LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, who guided the business-networking company through its $26.2 billion acquisition by Microsoft in 2016, says he’ll become executive chairman as of June 1 and leave the CEO reins to Ryan Roslansky.
- In a LinkedIn post, Weiner said that his 11 years as CEO “have been the greatest professional experience of my life,” but that he’s moving on in part because his “passion for initiatives beyond my day-to-day role as CEO has continued to grow.”
- Roslansky currently serves as LinkedIn’s senior vice president of product, overseeing all teams responsible for creating LinkedIn’s products and experiences. Weiner noted that “Ryan was the first hire I made after joining LinkedIn in December 2008,” and that he’s been “essential to the company’s success ever since.” Roslansky will report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, just as Weiner has.
- In the three and a half years since the record-setting acquisition was announced, LinkedIn’s membership has grown from 433 million to 675 million members. Weiner noted that the company currently generates $7.5 billion in revenue, which translates to 6% of Microsoft’s total, but added that “in many respects it feels like LinkedIn is just getting started.”
