If you read the business or tech pages, you know that Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26 billion this week. Here are some highlights from around the web on why this was a good or bad idea.
Now I don’t know a lot about high finance and running mega-corporations but I can’t think of anything that could possibly be worth $27 billion, other than ending world hunger, curing life-threatening disease, or bringing about world peace….All it can do is raise the price of other tech companies, thus expanding the tech bubble we are likely already in.
GOOD:
Wall Street Journal: Why Microsoft Bought LinkedIn
Author Christopher Mims thinks this purchase was a positive move for Microsoft, because Microsoft is all about online use of work productivity apps (PowerPoint, Word, Excel), so combining data from LinkedIn with data from use of those online apps can provide some powerful numbers to help them grow their business. It may also help them do better with CRM (customer relationship management) offerings, as right now they have l0w market share in that area.
Engadget: Why Microsoft Is the Best Home for LinkedIn
Devindra Hardawar agrees that Microsoft can take full advantage of all the data owned by LinkedIn to make its CRM offering more appealing. Also, Satya Nadella may be smarter than his predecessors and thus able to take better advantage of acquisitions than previous Microsoft CEOs have done.
Forbes: This Is the Real Reason Microsoft Bought LinkedIn
Grant Feller sees the acquisition as a positive move, saying, “Microsoft has just bought one of the world’s most influential, specialised, highly read, constantly-updated (and, it must be said, occasionally annoying) digital media companies around.”
Fast Company: Why Microsoft Buying LinkedIn for $26B Is a Smart Move
Ruth Reader says, “Software as a service is traditionally Microsoft’s strong suit. The LinkedIn acquisition is just the latest tool in a robust palette of office software, including Office 365, Yammer, Skype, and the calendar app Sunrise.”
BAD:
Ars Technica: I’ve slept on it—and I’m still baffled at Microsoft buying LinkedIn for $26.2B
Peter Bright mentions that recent purchases by Microsoft (notably Nokia in 2014 for $6 billion) have been disasters, so why will this one be any different? And why will connecting LinkedIn to, say, Outlook really be of use to most people?
The New Yorker: Why Microsoft Wanted LinkedIn
Vauhini Vara says that Microsoft wanted LinkedIn to improve its cloud services — for example, users of Outlook or Skype could collect data about their contacts right in the same window — but is skeptical that Microsoft will be able to carry it out.
The Economist: Making Sense of Microsoft’s Acquisition of LinkedIn
“The deal’s rationale looks questionable.” It sees 3 main drawbacks: 1) It overpaid ($250 per monthly user, supposedly); 2) Microsoft’s bad track record buying big companies; and 3) “companies are unlikely to want to give their employees more of an excuse to spend time on social media.”