Ryan Roslansky stepped down as LinkedIn’s CEO on Wednesday after leading the world’s largest professional network for six years. Dan Shapero, the company’s COO, assumes the role immediately.
Roslansky’s leadership is noteworthy. He joined LinkedIn in 2009 as one of Jeff Weiner’s first hires and spent over a decade navigating nearly every aspect of the company before becoming CEO in June 2020 during the tumultuous pandemic-era labor market. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016.
He took over a platform with 700 million members and around $8 billion in annual revenue, leaving it with 1.3 billion members and over $17 billion in revenue. A commendable achievement by any standards.
This revenue growth can largely be attributed to the platform’s transformation that he propelled — evolving from a simple jobs board to a comprehensive social network where executives share personal stories, offer career advice, and occasionally express emotions on camera. (People have mixed reactions to that; many are openly sharing their views.)
There’s little reason to pity Roslansky, who is also an EVP at Microsoft, as he indicated in a LinkedIn post that his responsibilities within Microsoft are expanding, with Shapero now reporting directly to him.