However, 2+years later, I don’t think anyone can say that LinkedIn has been anything but a success for Microsoft. The $26.2 billion price tag was nearly three times larger than Microsoft’s next largest deal - the disastrous $9.4 billion acquisition of Nokia’s ( NOK) phone business. At the time, there were many who thought Microsoft had done what large companies can do from time to time - overpay for a hyped-up acquisition that delivered little in the way of actual profits.
Back in June 2016, Microsoft’s ( NASDAQ: MSFT) announced its acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, all in cash.