LinkedIn, the social platform where people look for and talk about work, may be less visible in Microsoft’s earnings compared to the years when it was an independent company. But around earnings time, LinkedIn often reveals some figures that point to how it continues to grow.
On Wednesday, as Microsoft reported its Q2 numbers, the company noted that LinkedIn revenue has grown 9% over the last year. And later, in earnings remarks, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed that LinkedIn passed a record $2 billion in Premium subscriptions revenue in the last 12 months.
LinkedIn, which now has more than 1 billion users (Premium and free) is not disclosing how much it has made in total revenue in that 12-month period, nor what other business divisions of LinkedIn are generating. But for some points of reference:
- In March 2024, LinkedIn noted that Premium subscriptions revenue was at $1.7 billion for 12 months.
- It’s estimated that in 2024, LinkedIn had revenue of about $16.2 billion. Doing the rough math, that means that Premium subs are around 12.5% of LinkedIn’s revenue.
- These numbers are significant, but Microsoft’s newer lines of business, specifically AI, are growing faster and may soon overshadow it. In remarks earlier Wednesday, Nadella noted that AI made $13 billion in an annual revenue run rate this quarter, up 175% on last year. Indeed, later in the earnings call, LinkedIn said that it expected future revenue to grow in the “low- to mid- single digits” dragged by headwinds in Talent Solutions division.
Nevertheless, the $2 billion figure is a milestone for LinkedIn and speaks to the push that the company has been making to fold in a growing number of extra features into the paid tiers to persuade more users to sign on and pay up. The overall number has grown around 50% in the last two years, the company tells TechCrunch.
“Building a $2B revenue subscription business is something only a handful of digitally native companies in history have ever accomplished,” LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky told TechCrunch in a statement. “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.”
LinkedIn has been fairly selective about what it discloses about its financial and user figures since Microsoft acquired it in 2016, choosing to focus on good news to offset less strong numbers.
The $2 billion figure comes as Microsoft reported Q2 earnings that indicated growth slowed in its cloud business — a slowdown that sent the company’s shares down in aftermarket trading.
The Premium subscription figure covers both Careers and Business tiers. LinkedIn says that the new AI features that it has been launching — they include features such as AI-powered job hunting tools and tools to help with professional development — have seen strong take-up with Premium subscribers, where some 40% of them are using the features.