Which company completed the acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016?

Microsoft completed its acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016.

Microsoft announced the transaction in June 2016 and completed it on December 8, 2016. The all-cash deal was valued at approximately $26.2 billion, making it one of Microsoft’s largest acquisitions. LinkedIn continued operating as a separate brand and service within Microsoft.

LinkedIn was founded in 2003 by Reid Hoffman and other co-founders and launched publicly in 2003. It grew into a professional networking platform used for employment profiles, recruiting, business publishing, and online learning.

The acquisition is sometimes confused with Microsoft’s purchase of GitHub, which closed in 2018, or its acquisition of Skype, completed in 2011. LinkedIn was especially important to Microsoft’s business-productivity strategy because it connected professional identity, recruiting, and enterprise software.