LinkedIn executives can be questioned in antitrust lawsuit, judge rules
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco said in an order on Tuesday that the plaintiffs can depose LinkedIn's current chief executive Daniel Shapero for four hours, and question former CEO Hoffman for three hours. Hoffman sold LinkedIn to Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016.
A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that senior LinkedIn executives, including co-founder Reid Hoffman, can be questioned in an antitrust lawsuit alleging the company illegally monopolized the professional social media market. According to the judge, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler, LinkedIn CEO Daniel Shapero can be deposed for four hours, while former CEO Hoffman can be questioned for three hours.
LinkedIn had sought to exclude the plaintiffs from questioning the executives, arguing they lacked firsthand knowledge and should first seek information elsewhere. However, Beeler found the plaintiffs met the high bar necessary to question top corporate leaders. The lawsuit, filed in 2022, claims LinkedIn controlled more than 97% of the professional networking market and uses its dominance to charge excessive prices for premium subscriptions.
LinkedIn has dismissed the allegations as baseless and stated no amount of additional discovery would change that. Microsoft, which purchased LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016, is not a defendant in the case. The plaintiffs, Yavar Bathaee and Brian Dunne, have not yet been given comment on the ruling.
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