LinkedIn facts for kids

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LinkedIn Corporation
Logo used since September 2021
Headquarters in Sunnyvale, California
Type of business	Subsidiary
Type of site	Professional network service
Available in	Arabic Chinese (simplified) Chinese (traditional) Danish Dutch English (UK) English (US) French German Hindi Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Malay Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Swedish Tagalog Thai Turkish Ukrainian
Founded	May 5, 2003; 22 years ago (2003-05-05) Mountain View, California, U.S.
Headquarters	Sunnyvale, California , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Founder(s)	Reid Hoffman Eric Ly
CEO	Ryan Roslansky
Key people	Melissa Selcher (CMO) Raghu Hiremagalur (CTO) James Chuong (CFO) Jeff Weiner (Executive Chairman)
Industry	Internet
Revenue	US$15.15 billion (2023)
Employees	18,500 (2024)
Parent	Microsoft
Subsidiaries	LinkedIn Learning Connectifier Drawbridge Glint
Advertising	AdSense
Registration	Required
Users	310 million MAU (February 2023)
Launched	May 5, 2003; 22 years ago (2003-05-05)
Current status	Active

LinkedIn is a popular online platform that helps people connect for work and career goals. It's like a social media site, but it's all about jobs, businesses, and professional connections. It was started on May 5, 2003, by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since 2016, LinkedIn has been owned by Microsoft.

People use LinkedIn to build their professional network, find jobs, and learn new skills. Job seekers can create a profile like an online resume, and companies can post job openings. LinkedIn also helps people connect with others in their field, join groups, write articles, and share updates about their work. It has over 1 billion registered members from more than 200 countries.

About the Company

LinkedIn started in Mountain View, California, but its main office is now in Sunnyvale, California. It has 36 offices around the world. In 2024, about 18,500 people worked for LinkedIn.

The current CEO of LinkedIn is Ryan Roslansky. Jeff Weiner, who used to be the CEO, is now the Executive Chairman. Reid Hoffman, who founded LinkedIn, is the chairman of the board. The company became profitable in March 2006.

How LinkedIn Started

Early Years (2002-2011)

Former LinkedIn headquarters in Mountain View, California

LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman and a team of others. In 2004, LinkedIn reached 1 million users. By March 2006, the company started making a profit. In April 2007, it had 10 million users. A mobile version of the website was launched in February 2008.

In 2008, some investment companies bought a small part of LinkedIn for $53 million, which meant the company was worth about $1 billion. LinkedIn started opening offices in other countries, like Mumbai, India, and Sydney, Australia, in 2009. In 2010, it opened its international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

Growing Bigger (2011-Present)

LinkedIn office building at 222 Second Street in San Francisco (opened in March 2016)

LinkedIn office in Toronto inside the Toronto Eaton Centre

In January 2011, LinkedIn decided to offer its shares to the public for the first time. This is called an initial public offering. On May 19, 2011, LinkedIn shares started trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares did very well on the first day, closing much higher than their starting price. By this time, LinkedIn had about 2,100 full-time employees.

In 2014, LinkedIn leased a large building in San Francisco to bring all its employees in the city together. In February 2016, the company's shares dropped a lot in one day after an earnings report.

In June 2016, Microsoft announced it would buy LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. This was one of the biggest purchases Microsoft had ever made at the time. Microsoft said LinkedIn would keep its own brand and culture. The deal was completed in December 2016. After Microsoft bought LinkedIn, a new version of the website was launched to make it work better on both computers and phones.

In 2019, LinkedIn launched "Open for Business," a feature that helps freelancers get found on the platform. They also launched "LinkedIn Events" that year. In June 2020, Ryan Roslansky became the new CEO. In July 2020, LinkedIn had to let go of about 960 employees because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, there were reports that a lot of LinkedIn data was being sold online. LinkedIn said this was not a data breach but data that had been collected from many different websites. In October 2021, Microsoft stopped LinkedIn's operations in China. In May 2023, LinkedIn cut 716 jobs to make its business run more smoothly.

Companies LinkedIn Has Bought

LinkedIn has bought many other companies over the years to add new features and services. For example, in 2012, they bought SlideShare, which lets people share presentations. In 2015, they bought Lynda.com, which is an online learning platform that teaches business, technology, and creative skills through videos. These purchases help LinkedIn offer more to its users.

How Many People Use LinkedIn?

Social media websites may also use "traditional" marketing approaches, as seen in these LinkedIn-branded chocolates.

As of 2021, LinkedIn has more than 774 million registered members from over 200 countries. In 2011, about two new members joined LinkedIn every second! This shows how quickly the platform has grown.

Features of LinkedIn

Your Profile and Connections

Basic Features

LinkedIn homepage

The main part of LinkedIn lets you create a profile. This profile is like an online resume. It shows your work experience, education, skills, and a photo. Companies can use LinkedIn to list jobs and search for people to hire. You can also find jobs and business opportunities that people in your network recommend.

You can make "connections" with other people on LinkedIn. These connections are like professional friends. You can invite anyone to become a connection. If you're connected to someone, you can also see their connections (called "second-degree connections") and even their connections' connections ("third-degree connections"). This helps you find people you might want to meet through someone you already know.

LinkedIn also lets you:

"Like" posts and "congratulate" others on things like birthdays or new jobs.
Send direct messages to your connections.
Share videos with text and filters.
Write posts and articles to share your ideas with your network.

Since 2012, LinkedIn has a feature where users can "endorse" each other's skills. This means someone can confirm that you are good at a certain skill, like "public speaking" or "graphic design."

Apps and Mobile Use

LinkedIn has a special system that allows other apps to connect with its data. This means you can use your LinkedIn account to sign into other services or add things to your profile from other apps.

A mobile version of LinkedIn was launched in 2008, available in many languages. This means you can use LinkedIn easily on your phone or tablet.

Groups and Discussions

LinkedIn also has "groups" where people with similar interests can connect. For example, there might be a group for "young coders" or "future doctors." In these groups, members can discuss topics, share ideas, and get updates. Some groups are private, meaning only members can see them, while others are open to everyone.

How People Use LinkedIn

Building Your Personal Brand

When a user accepts an invitation from another user, they have a first-level connection; the user is indirectly connected to the other user's connections with what LinkedIn terms second-level and third-level connections.

LinkedIn is great for "personal branding." This means actively showing off your skills and what makes you unique to help your career. Your LinkedIn profile is a big part of this. It helps you show your expertise and connect with new people.

LinkedIn encourages users to add enough information to their profile so that it can be easily found by search engines. Adding a good profile photo and joining professional groups can also help. You can even add videos to your profile to show off your skills.

LinkedIn also has a program called "LinkedIn Influencers." These are important leaders from different fields who share their ideas and insights with LinkedIn members. Famous people like Richard Branson and Bill Gates are part of this program.

Finding Jobs

Many people use LinkedIn to find jobs and for companies to find new employees. It's a very important tool for professional networking. For example, in Australia, most working professionals are on LinkedIn, which means your future employer might be there too! It's estimated that millions of users have gotten job interviews or even been hired through LinkedIn connections.

You can also research companies on LinkedIn to see if you'd like to work there. You can find information like how many employees they have, where their offices are, and who works there. LinkedIn also has a feature called "Apply with LinkedIn," which lets you use your profile as a resume when applying for jobs.

LinkedIn can also help small businesses connect with customers. The site helps you build a network of "first-degree," "second-degree," and "third-degree" connections, which makes your profile more visible to others.

Top Companies and Voices

LinkedIn publishes lists of "Top Companies" each year. These lists show which companies are most popular with job seekers in different countries. They also publish "Top Voices" lists, which recognize members who create the most interesting and engaging posts on the platform.

Advertising on LinkedIn

LinkedIn also makes money through advertising. Companies can pay to have their content sponsored and shown to more users. This is a common way for social media sites to earn money. LinkedIn also has "carousel ads," which let businesses show off their products or services with a series of pictures.

LinkedIn's Future Plans

LinkedIn wants to create an "economic graph." This is like a huge digital map of the world's economy. It would include all jobs, skills, companies, and educational places. The goal is to make it easier for people to find jobs and for companies to find the right talent, making the job market more efficient.

Connecting with Others

LinkedIn is known as a very important tool for professional networking. It helps people build business relationships and connect with others in their field. Many experts say it's the most useful social networking tool for job seekers and business professionals today.

Where LinkedIn is Blocked

Some countries have blocked access to LinkedIn. For example, in 2016, a court in Russia ruled that LinkedIn must be blocked because it didn't store Russian citizens' data on servers inside Russia, as required by their law. LinkedIn's mobile app was also blocked in Russia. In October 2021, Microsoft confirmed that LinkedIn would be shutting down in China and replaced with a different app called InJobs, due to difficulties in following China's rules.