LinkedIn’s worth has grown steadily over the years. The company has strategically developed a variety of income streams which now all contribute loads of cash to its balance sheet.
With its growing significance as both an online employment platform and a professional social networking site, there is no doubt LinkedIn’s monetary value has reached billions of dollars.
In this article, readers will find out valuable facts about the site including:
- How much is LinkedIn worth today?
- How does LinkedIn make money?
- How much did Microsoft acquire the platform in 2016?
How Much is LinkedIn Worth Today?
How much is LinkedIn worth? The site’s revenue surpassed $10.0 billion in Q4 2021 for the first time since its founding in 2002.
It has become a big beneficiary employment dynamics shift which led to massive growth in its user count.
Similarly, recruiters have become increasingly reliant on online sites to score the best quality applicants.
How Much Did Microsoft Acquire LinkedIn?
Microsoft made three big acquisitions in 2016 namely Activision Blizzard, Minecraft, and LinkedIn.
The technology giant purchased the latter for $26.2 billion which is its next high-profile investment next to Activision Blizzard which it bought for $68.7 billion.
LinkedIn’s Annual Revenue from 2017 to 2021
Here is how much is LinkedIn worth over the years, from 2017 to 2021. The firm has experienced a steady revenue growth since Microsoft’s take-over in 2016.
- 2017 – $2.2 billion
- 2018 – $5.2 billion
- 2019 – $6.7 billion
- 2020 – $8.0 billion
- 2021 – $10.3 billion
While LinkedIn’s balance sheet remains quite elusive from public view, Microsoft is always lenient to announce the firm’s annual revenue.
How Does LinkedIn Make Money?
There is nothing much that changed on LinkedIn’s income sources before and after Microsoft’s arrival.
Below are three of its important moneymakers:
- Talent Solutions – this includes the hiring section which generates recruitment and hiring revenue. Meanwhile, Learning & Development sow income from learning content such as LinkedIn Learning.
- Marketing Solutions – this is one of the biggest contributors to how much LinkedIn is worth today. Advertising is the primary income source for this sector.
- Premium Subscriptions – LinkedIn offers different membership tiers for interested users which come with different benefits and access to premium services.
LinkedIn’s Business Segments in 2016
As mentioned, LinkedIn has three main income sources and each gives varied contributions to the firm’s overall financial standing.
Here is each business segment’s contribution prior to Microsoft era in 2016:
- Talent Solutions – 62.42%
- Marketing Solutions – 18.90%
- Premium Subscriptions – 18.68%
In the past, the talent solutions segment accounted for more than half of LinkedIn’s revenue.
Today, marketing solutions are quickly catching up given LinkedIn’s popularity as an online advertising hub.
LinkedIn’s Advertising Revenue
In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2021, advertising revenue hiked 97% year over year and surpassed $1.0 billion.
The sector is growing three times faster than the other two business categories.
During the quarter, the company unveiled a number of advertisement-targeted features to encourage marketers to do business with LinkedIn.
There is the Boost feature which helps businesses generate a bigger audience for their high-performing organic posts.
Another is Event Ads targeting a growing market of virtual events through amplifying event-centered promotions.
Lastly, LinkedIn introduced Custom Streaming during the same period allowing users to live stream on the platform using tools they are most comfortable with.
The site’s total live-stream activities have now totaled 200,000 and grew 400% from the same period a year ago.
LinkedIn’s Main Target Markets
How much is LinkedIn worth today is thanks to the continued patronage of its customers.
The site has a wide variety of target markets which bring different values to the company.
Here are LinkedIn’s four main customers:
- Professionals – these account for all users who have created their profiles on LinkedIn to find jobs, learn new skills, and connect with colleagues, among others. They make up the majority of LinkedIn’s 800 million users.
- Recruiters – this segment is made up of users searching for the best talent to welcome to their pool. Over the years, recruiters on LinkedIn have grown in number as more job seekers turn to online job boards to search for vacancies. Today, one in every 20 LinkedIn profiles in the United States are recruiters.
- Advertisers or Marketers – aside from mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, advertisers are now turning to LinkedIn to run targeted ads. For the record, the professional job search platform is dominant in lead generation and has the highest lead-to-conversion rate of 2.74%.
- Third-party Developers – surprisingly, developer communities are also utilizing LinkedIn’s APIs or Application Programming Interfaces to deploy software tools.
LinkedIn Premium Pricing
LinkedIn Premium offers four membership tiers catering to different audiences and target markets as follows:
- Premium Career – $29.00/month
- Premium Business – $59.99/month
- Sales Navigator Professional – $99.99/month
- Recruiter Lite – $139.99/month
Discounts are offered for annual membership plans. Free accounts are entitled to a month’s worth of free trial before availing of premium plans.
Benefits of LinkedIn Premium
Here are the top three benefits users get upon availing of LinkedIn Premium:
1. InMail
Premium accounts are entitled to send five InMail messages per month.
InMail is LinkedIn’s internal messaging medium which allows users to directly message people they want to connect with.
On the other hand, this feature is not free to use nor unlimited.
InMails are a great way to establish a first-hand connection with possible employers without needing to connect with them right away.
2. Who’s Viewed My Profile
This feature allows premium members to view a list of accounts that have viewed their profiles and posts over the last 90 days.
For marketers, this could be a valuable tool to gauge which posts have had the highest number of views.
Meanwhile, this could also help professionals identify potential employers interested in their profile and pitch their experience.
3. LinkedIn Learning
A premium account is allowed to access LinkedIn Learning which is home to thousands of massive open online courses or MOOCs across 13,000 fields of study.
Upskilling and reskilling are important in an employee’s career beyond job search.
Conclusion
LinkedIn’s increasing importance as a primary platform for online job searching led to its $10 billion revenue in 2021.
This is expected to grow further in the coming years as more professionals and recruiters alike turn to LinkedIn to find their respective teams.
We hope you enjoyed learning about how much is LinkedIn worth.
It is never easy going to the top but the company made it work through its well-structured business model and willingness to innovate.
