LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner announces resignation

For millions of daily LinkedIn auditors, the most important news on LinkedIn today is an update from the platform's CEO, Jeff Weiner himself. Wednesday morning, Weiner announced in a blog post titled "It’s time for my next game" he would step down as CEO of LinkedIn on June 1 this year, ending his 11-year tenure at the helm of the professional networking site.
 
Weiner will be replaced by the current global product manager for LinkedIn, Ryan Roslansky, as he retires behind the scenes to serve as the company's executive chairman, a role held by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman since Weiner was appointed CEO. Roslansky's first lieutenant in the product team, Tomer Cohen, will be promoted to product manager.
 
Weiner took over as head of LinkedIn in 2008 when the company first crossed the $ 1 billion mark. During the reign of Weiner, LinkedIn doubled its valuation on the private market in two years thanks to several rounds of venture capital financing and went public in 2011. In 2017, Microsoft bought the company for $ 27 billion in the part of a cash deal, the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history. Today, LinkedIn has more than 675 million users worldwide and generates $ 7.5 billion in annual revenue.
 
Weiner said he had discussed his role transition with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella since last summer. "Although I have been thinking about this transition for some time, in the past year, several factors have converged and led me to conclude that the time has come to make this change," Weiner wrote. "For starters, our business has never been better, our culture has never been stronger ... Furthermore, my passion for initiatives beyond my daily role as CEO has never stopped growing."
 
As for his "next play," Weiner suggested that it would reflect the path of Hoffman, who is now a prolific angel investor in Silicon Valley.
 
"No one has had more influence on my tenure as CEO than Reid," Weiner wrote. "Despite his diverse interests outside the company, LinkedIn has always been his top priority. Whether as a top level LinkedIn representative, product visionary, business strategist, mentor or advisor, his contributions have been invaluable and LinkedIn would obviously not be where it is today without him. As the new Executive Chairman of LinkedIn, I hope to serve the same way. "

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