http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36519766
 
'WTF' doesn't even come close, but I have come up with a working theory as to what happened (having quickly abandoned all hope of a rational explanation).
 
Like, Drumf and Scargill's hair do's had rampant follicle sex and the resultant mutated self-aware shredded wheat leapt upon the heads of Microsoft's chiefs of staff, controlling their puny human brains, resulting in the above takeover/purchase.

But...to what end?  TO WHAT END?!

1. Calm down
2. Arthur's hair is still funny
3. Stay calm

For only $26BN? I think LinkedIn got the better end of this deal.

Now we can all haz lynxed in?

"Amounts to $250 per member."
 
Can I just have the money and go on my way then? 

LinkedIn must be great if you're a corporate pen pusher looking to climb another rung of the Grey Ladder. 
 
For everyone else, LinkedIn = something you signed up for years ago on a whim and are reminded of the fact daily by annoying spam emails telling you that someone you barely know has chosen to "send LinkedIn requests to everyone in my email contacts."
 
And even when you go through the hoops to delete your account, the emails still keep coming until you mark LinkedIn as spam. 
 
Other than that though I love it. 

Just wait until it gets integrated into Windows, gets auto-installed by Windows Update as a non-optional "critical update", and a Linkedin account is required to update MS Word. Then you can get indignant.
 
Of course, by then a Google account will be necessary to use PayPal, the government will be putting everyone without a Facebook account on the Watch List, and Twitter will have become the new electronic voting platform.
 
"The polls have been open for five minutes now ...Kanye West is trending so we're calling the election based on a projected 15 billion 'Likes' by 8 PM. While it's true that 60% of those Likes originated from the cell phone of one 13-year-old single mother in Toledo, the ballots have been independently verified by Instagram."

bitflipper
Just wait until it gets integrated into Windows, gets auto-installed by Windows Update as a non-optional "critical update", and a Linkedin account is required to update MS Word. Then you can get indignant.
 
Of course, by then a Google account will be necessary to use PayPal, the government will be putting everyone without a Facebook account on the Watch List, and Twitter will have become the new electronic voting platform.
 
"The polls have been open for five minutes now ...Kanye West is trending so we're calling the election based on a projected 15 billion 'Likes' by 8 PM. While it's true that 60% of those Likes originated from the cell phone of one 13-year-old single mother in Toledo, the ballots have been independently verified by Instagram."