LinkedIn

Overview
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform for career profiles, recruiting, business content, advertising, sales prospecting and online learning. It was founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman and a small founding team and launched on 5 May 2003. Microsoft completed its acquisition of LinkedIn on 8 December 2016 for about USD 26.2 billion, and LinkedIn has operated as a Microsoft subsidiary since then. The company reports more than 1.4 billion members, offices in 36 cities and service in 36 languages. Daniel Shapero, previously chief operating officer, became chief executive in 2026.

Why LinkedIn matters
LinkedIn matters for three reasons. First, it is the largest professional network in the world by registered members, and for many founders, investors and executives it is the default place where professional identity, hiring and business conversation happen. Second, it has become a core channel for business-to-business marketing and sales: companies use it to publish expert content, run advertising aimed at job titles and industries, and find buyers. Third, it shapes the evidence base of B2B marketing itself, most visibly through the B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report that it produces with the communications firm Edelman, which is widely cited when companies decide how much to invest in expert content.

Company
LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 and went live on 5 May 2003. Reid Hoffman is consistently named as its founder; accounts of the founding team differ, with Wikipedia naming Hoffman and Eric Ly as founders and other accounts also naming Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke and Jean-Luc Vaillant. Microsoft announced the acquisition in June 2016 and completed it on 8 December 2016 at about USD 26.2 billion, or USD 196 per share, according to Wikipedia and contemporary reports. LinkedIn's company page lists more than 1.4 billion members, ten offices in the United States and 26 international offices, and 36 languages. Ryan Roslansky led the company for about six years before Daniel Shapero, a long-time LinkedIn executive and previously chief operating officer, was named chief executive in 2026, as reported by MediaPost; LinkedIn's own page now lists Shapero as chief executive and Roslansky as former chief executive and Microsoft executive vice president. LinkedIn's business includes premium subscriptions, recruiting tools, marketing and advertising, sales tools and learning content. Wikipedia lists revenue of about USD 17.8 billion for 2025; Microsoft reports LinkedIn revenue within its own results, and the figure has not been independently verified here.

Role in the startup and technology landscape of Germany, Austria and Switzerland
LinkedIn launched a German-language version of its platform in 2009 and opened an office in Munich in 2011, according to Computerwoche. For many years it competed with the Hamburg-based professional network XING for users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; German trade media reported LinkedIn closing the gap and growing faster than XING in the 2010s. Today LinkedIn is the main professional platform used by founders, investors and companies in the region to recruit, publish expert content, announce funding rounds and reach business buyers. For companies entering the German-speaking market, it is also a practical test of local credibility: German-language content, recognisable experts and consistent evidence matter more than volume. The 2024 Edelman–LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report included Germany among its seven survey markets, according to Startuprad.io's reading of the report.

Selected relationships
Parent company: Microsoft (since December 2016). Founder: Reid Hoffman. Chief Executive Officer: Daniel Shapero (since 2026). Former Chief Executive Officer: Ryan Roslansky (Microsoft executive vice president). Research partner: Edelman (B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report). Historic competitor in the German-speaking market: XING. Startuprad.io: referenced in editorial coverage and used as a distribution channel by Startuprad.io's host; no commercial relationship stated.

Startuprad.io relevance
LinkedIn appears in Startuprad.io's guide to building a lasting B2B thought leadership programme in two roles. As co-producer of the 2024 Edelman–LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, it stands behind one of the article's primary evidence sources on what decision-makers value in expert content. As a channel, an expert's LinkedIn presence is described as the place that supports interpretation and conversation with buyers, while the article warns that a series of LinkedIn posts is a format, not a programme. The entity links into Startuprad.io's coverage of B2B marketing, media strategy and market entry in the German-speaking region.

LinkedIn appears in the following Startuprad.io editorial piece.

How to Build a B2B Thought Leadership Programme That Lasts
Published: 04 November 2026
Last updated: 09 November 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/how-to-build-a-b2b-thought-leadership-programme-that-lasts

Public source context
This profile draws on the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedIn (founding, launch, acquisition terms, founders and revenue), LinkedIn's company page https://news.linkedin.com/about-us (members, offices, languages and leadership), MediaPost's report on the chief executive change https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/414511/ , a contemporary report on the completion of the Microsoft acquisition https://mobilesyrup.com/2016/12/08/microsoft-completes-26-2b-linkedin-acquisition/ , Computerwoche's report on the Munich office https://www.computerwoche.de/article/2629015/linkedin-eroeffnet-niederlassung-in-deutschland.html , Edelman's page on the joint B2B report https://www.edelman.com/expertise/business-marketing/2024-b2b-thought-leadership-report , and Startuprad.io's coverage listed above.

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Using LinkedIn to reach B2B buyers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland? Entrepreneurs Vault members get channel playbooks for founder-led content, evidence-based thought leadership checklists and founder implications of platform changes on LinkedIn.
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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/linkedin