Why it matters: LinkedIn on Wednesday announced that longtime CEO Jeff Weiner will be stepping down later this year to take on a new role within the company. His replacement is familiar with the firm as he has more than a decade of experience in various leadership roles at LinkedIn.
Effective June 1, 2020, Weiner will become LinkedIn's executive chairman. The social network for business professionals will promote Ryan Roslansky, currently the senior vice president of product, to fill the vacancy. Vice President of Linked Marketing Solutions Tom Cohen will become LinkedIn's new head of product, we're told.
Weiner joined LinkedIn in 2008. Under his leadership, the company has grown from less than 400 employees to over 16,000 spanning more than 30 offices around the globe. LinkedIn's user base, meanwhile, has swelled from around 33 million to close to 675 million. He was instrumental in navigating the IPO waters in 2011 and helped the company complete its acquisition by Microsoft in 2016.
Weiner said despite the scale and impact they've achieved thus far, he feels like in many respects, they're just getting started. "I can't wait to see where our team and this community take it from here."
Roslansky, a LinkedIn veteran of more than 10 years, has left his mark on nearly every aspect of LinkedIn's ecosystem. For the last three years, he has led the product team to help create "a destination that attracts more than 35 million job seekers every week and where someone is hired every seven seconds." He described the promotion as a dream job.
As CEO, Roslansky will report directly to Microsoft boss Satya Nadella.
Masthead credit: LinkedIn by vmedia84