LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky steps down, Dan Shapero takes over immediately

LinkedIn is changing leadership at the same moment Microsoft is pushing the business deeper into hiring, sales, learning and AI-powered workflows. Ryan Roslansky stepped down as chief executive effective immediately after six years in the role, and Dan Shapero, LinkedIn’s chief operating officer, took over at once.

The handoff closes a run in which LinkedIn grew from a large professional network into one of Microsoft’s most valuable consumer-facing assets. Roslansky took the top job in June 2020 after joining LinkedIn in 2009 as one of Jeff Weiner’s early hires. Microsoft said he inherited a platform with about 700 million members and roughly $8 billion in annual revenue, and leaves with about 1.3 billion members and more than $17 billion in revenue. That growth was financial and cultural. Under Roslansky, executives increasingly used LinkedIn to post personal essays, job advice, industry commentary and video, turning the site into a much broader communications platform than a digital résumé repository.

Shapero is a continuity choice. He joined LinkedIn in 2008 as a general manager for the LinkedIn Research Network, then moved through sales, product and operations before becoming chief operating officer in 2021. Microsoft said the new CEO will report to Roslansky, who retains a Microsoft title and now has added responsibility overseeing LinkedIn and Microsoft Office. That structure suggests the company is managing the transition as an internal handoff rather than a break with the current strategy.

The numbers behind the change show why LinkedIn matters more inside Microsoft than ever. Microsoft said LinkedIn reached 1 billion members in 2024, climbed to 1.2 billion members in fiscal 2025, and recorded four consecutive years of double-digit member growth. Engagement has also accelerated, with comments rising more than 30% and video uploads increasing more than 20% in fiscal 2025. Microsoft’s 2025 annual report said the company is bringing AI agents into the core workflows of sales, hiring and learning, placing LinkedIn at the center of a broader enterprise push.

Microsoft also named Mohak Shroff president of Platforms & Digital Work as part of the reshuffle, another sign that the company is aligning LinkedIn more tightly with productivity software and AI tools. Roslansky’s departure marks the end of one phase, but the real test now is whether LinkedIn can keep expanding as a networking site, a content platform and a professional identity layer inside Microsoft’s larger workplace strategy.