Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for USD 26.2 bn, its largest-ever deal, Reuters reported Monday. Connecting their software “marks a turn” for Microsoft and could help LinkedIn “jumpstart its growth, which has slowed in recent years,” as LinkedIn has a network of 433 mn professionals and Microsoft’s customers include 1.2 bn users of Microsoft Office. “Microsoft said after adding in LinkedIn, the total potential market size of Microsoft’s productivity and business-process segment was USD 315 bn, up from USD 200 bn without LinkedIn,” the article read. Meanwhile, Bloomberg asks why Microsoft, which has “enough cash to buy LinkedIn Corp. four times over,” is borrowing for the buy. The answer? “Maybe because it’ll lower the technology giant’s tax bill.” Either way, Microsoft is on fire under CEO Satya Nadella (read his note to staff on why they acquired LinkedIn). Office 365 is now fantastic on Mac, in the cloud and on iOS. The company has acquired some of the hottest startups in town and rolled them into its core platform, including Skype, SwiftKey, Accompli (relaunched as Outlook on mobile). Their pricing is still confusing for small businesses, but even their ads are now sensible.