Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com)
The professional-skills video library that began in 1995 as Lynda Weinman's web-design books and workshops in Ojai, California, became the bootstrapped subscription business Lynda.com, was bought by LinkedIn in 2015 for ~$1.5bn, relaunched in 2016 as LinkedIn Learning inside the world's largest professional network, passed to Microsoft with LinkedIn the same year, and in 2023–26 repositioned around generative-AI coaching inside LinkedIn Premium and enterprise learning.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1995, Ojai, California, as lynda.com (books, workshops and a companion website); online subscription library from 2002
- Founders
- Lynda Weinman (author, designer, educator) and Bruce Heavin (illustrator; her husband)
- Headquarters
- Lynda.com: Ojai, then Carpinteria, California. LinkedIn Learning: part of LinkedIn, Sunnyvale, California; the Carpinteria studio remained a content-production site for some years after 2015 (verify current status)
- Ownership / structure
- Business line of LinkedIn Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) since December 2016. Not reported separately; sits within LinkedIn's Talent Solutions and Premium revenue
- Leadership (2026)
- Daniel Shapero, LinkedIn CEO (named April 2026, succeeding Ryan Roslansky, CEO 2020–26) (verify). Learning is run inside LinkedIn's Talent Solutions organisation; individual Learning leaders change frequently and are not listed here. Founders Weinman and Heavin left operating roles after the acquisition
- Segment and buyer
- Workforce / professional skills. Buyers: enterprise L&D and HR teams (Learning licences, often bundled with Recruiter and Talent Insights), universities and public libraries, government and nonprofit programmes, and individuals via LinkedIn Premium
- Scale
- Lynda.com at sale (2015): ~4m+ paying individuals and enterprise seats combined and ~$150m revenue (both reported). LinkedIn Learning (2025–26): ~20,000+ courses in ~20 languages and tens of thousands of organisational customers (company claims, verify). LinkedIn overall: ~1.2–1.3bn members and ~$17bn+ revenue in Microsoft's FY2025 (reported, verify)
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- Lynda.com bootstrapped 1995–2012; ~$103m from Accel, Spectrum Equity and Meritech (January 2013, reported); ~$186m led by TPG with existing investors (January 2015, reported). Acquired by LinkedIn for ~$1.5bn (~52% cash, ~48% stock), announced April 2015. LinkedIn acquired by Microsoft for ~$26.2bn ($196/share), closed December 2016
- Signature moves
- Books-to-video pivot and subscription library (2002); first outside capital at scale (2013); $1.5bn sale to LinkedIn (2015); LinkedIn Learning relaunch bundled into Premium (2016); Microsoft era (2016–); Lynda.com sunset and library-privacy backlash (2019–20); Global Skills Initiative (2020); AI coaching and role play (2023–26). Misses: library and privacy controversy, slow social/"learning network" payoff, Learning Hub LXP that never displaced specialists, opaque results within Microsoft
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1995
Founding Lynda Books and Workshops
Launch
2002
Online Subscription Library
Pivot / pricing change (from workshops and discs to an online subscription)
2013
First Outside Capital
Funding round (growth equity, partly secondary)
2015
Acquired by LinkedIn
Acquisition (lynda.com acquired)
2016
LinkedIn Learning Launch Premium Bundle
Launch / pricing change (rebrand plus bundling into LinkedIn Premium)
2016
Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn
Acquisition (parent company acquired)
2019
Lynda Sunset and Library Backlash
Restructuring / product migration (retiring lynda.com into LinkedIn Learning)
2020
Global Skills Initiative
Partnership / free access campaign
2023
AI Coaching and Role Play
AI launch