
Social media platform, LinkedIn has now surpassed $2 billion in premium subscription revenue in the last 12 months. Parent company Microsoft said the platform where people look for and talk about work saw its revenue grow by 9 per cent over the same period.
Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella confirmed that the figures revealed how much the platform has grown since its acquisition in 2016. LinkedIn now has more than 1 billion users, both premium and free.
The platform’s $2 billion revenue is a major milestone. It shows that the company has been recording a growing number of extra features in the paid tiers to persuade more users to sign on and pay up. The overall revenue grew by around 50 per cent in the last two years.
Reacting to the growth, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky noted that building a $2B revenue subscription business is something only a handful of digitally native companies have ever accomplished.
“We’re focused on designing and continuing to iterate on a model that is value-orientated to meet the needs of our subscribers — those who want to accelerate their career or grow their business. We bet big on our investment in AI tools to help our subscribers accelerate how they connect to opportunity, and it’s paying off,” he added.
However, LinkedIn did not disclose how much it has made in total revenue in those 12 months nor what other business divisions of LinkedIn are generating. However, it was estimated that in 2024 the platform recorded a revenue of about $16.2 billion where premium subscriptions represent 12.5 per cent of the revenue.
The development adds to the $1.7 billion premium subscription revenue it disclosed in March 2024 for 12 months. LinkedIn has been fairly selective about what it discloses about its financial and user figures since its acquisition 11 years ago after choosing to focus on the good news to offset less strong numbers.
As the premium subscription figure covers both Careers and Business tiers, the social media platform said that the new AI features that it has been launching have seen strong take-up with premium subscribers, where about 40 per cent of them are using the features. The AI feature includes AI-powered job-hunting tools and tools to help with professional development.
On future projections, the company expects its revenue to grow in the “low- to mid-single digits” dragged by headwinds in the Talent Solutions division.
Aside from LinkedIn, more figures from Microsoft
The $2 billion LinkedIn revenue figure comes as Microsoft reported Q2 earnings on Wednesday. The report indicated growth slowed in its cloud business which has sent the company’s shares down in aftermarket trading.
Meanwhile, the tech giant announced that its revenue increased by 12 per cent to $69.6 billion, and net income of $24.1 billion to a 10 per cent rise. “We are innovating across our tech stack and helping customers unlock the full ROI of AI to capture the massive opportunity ahead,” said Nadella.