Lynda.com was acquired last week by LinkedIn for $1.5 billion (52 percent cash and 48 percent stock).
Founded in 1995 by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin, Lynda has a massive library of 6,300 courses and 267,000 video tutorials. In addition to individual subscribers, lynda.com serves corporate, government and educational organizations through its lyndaEnterprise, lyndaPro, lyndaCampus, lyndaLibrary and lyndaKiosk products.
LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with over 300 million members worldwide, stated that “lynda.com’s high-quality content provides opportunity for members to easily gain the professional skills they need to get hired and advance their careers”, while Lynda Weinman said that “we have a shared vision of connecting relevant knowledge to those in need of new or stronger skills”.
It seems that LinkedIn will try to match users with courses that fill gaps in their skill sets. Regarding the badges and certifications challenge, currently Lynda.com gives certificates of completion to individuals who finish most of their courses. However, it is unclear how much value employers and recruiters will place in these badges and micro-credentials.
