Running LinkedIn is still a 'dream job' under Microsoft says Jeff Weiner

Jeff Weiner, CEO of Linkedin.

CNBC

Jeff Weiner doesn't just like his job as the head of LinkedIn and one of the top executives of Microsoft. It's his "dream job," he told Jon Fortt on CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Wednesday.

Perhaps the rosy view comes from being considered a star inside the rest of Microsoft.

In the most recent quarter LinkedIn revenue grew 27%, faster than any other major product or service category. LinkedIn remains the most expensive acquisition Microsoft has ever done in its 44-year history, at $27 billion, but the business social network is making an impact -- in the four most recent quarters it has contributed $6.38 billion in revenue, or more than 5% of Microsoft's total revenue.

Or perhaps Weiner's feeling comes from Microsoft not meddling.

"Part of the reason for our success is this model of independence," said Weiner, who has been allowed to keep running LinkedIn, even as he has taken on additional responsibility as a top-level decision maker as a member of Microsoft's senior leadership team.

LinkedIn has delivered integrations for Microsoft's Outlook and Dynamics products, but inside of Microsoft it has kept developing its own offerings, like its home feed and direct messaging.

Weiner said that inside Microsoft there isn't necessarily a big push to "focus on the immediate term, quarter to quarter." As a public company CEO Weiner did have to face stock swings as the company reported quarterly earnings results.

Weiner is not among Microsoft's named executive officers whose salary information is public. When LinkedIn was still a public company in its 2015 fiscal year, he received total compensation in excess of $19 million.

No matter how much money he's taking home these days, Weiner made it clear he still likes what he's doing.

"I mean, frankly it's a dream job," he said on Wednesday. "It was a dream job before I got to Microsoft. I was just having this conversation with [Microsoft CEO] Satya [Nadella] the other day. It's even more so now. The ability to focus 100% on the realization of our mission and vision is, especially in the current environment -- this notion of creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce -- that purpose is something I'm really passionate about.

"I have the opportunity to work with an extraordinary group of individuals. And to pursue our mission and vision alongside of them is just something that we're all collectively very passionate about. It's also, you know, operating within Microsoft, this opportunity to leverage their scale -- over one billion individuals using their products and services on a global basis."

WATCH: Watch CNBC's full interview with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner

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