LinkedIn's market cap is currently $10 billion.

I believe LinkedIn should buy Yahoo's core business (websites, communication tools, data, and users) for $2 billion in stock if they can (selling off Yahoo's stakes in Alibaba, Yahoo Japan, etc).

Here are the good reasons to do it:

1. It gives LinkedIn immediate, huge engagement. Yahoo's websites do 77 billion monthly pageviews (#3 on the Web!), solving the single biggest challenge LinkedIn has: Getting people to come back to LinkedIn. News, Sports, Finance, Entertainment -- it's like LinkedIn would be buying its very own USA Today.

2. It grows LinkedIn's user base from 80 million active users to 600 million. LinkedIn could consolidate Yahoo user profiles so that every Yahoo user is on LinkedIn, and every Yahoo website visit reminds people to stay LinkedIn.

3. It gives LinkedIn a tremendous ad revenue stream. Not only will it diversify LinkedIn's income, but it will allow the combined company to do much better demographic ad targeting. LinkedIn's BIG DATA scientists would have a field day with Yahoo's data. Better get those Hadoop servers ready, folks.

4. It vastly improves LinkedIn's communication offerings. Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Messenger instead of InMail? As a Pro subscriber, YES PLEASE.

5. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner has experience with Yahoo. He served as Executive Vice President overseeing Yahoo's consumer facing products during Yahoo's Golden Era.

So why shouldn't LinkedIn do this?

Because it's very, very hard to integrate two company cultures, especially since Yahoo will still have more than 5 times as many employees as LinkedIn after the 2012 layoffs.

On the other hand, fortune favors the bold. I say FULL STEAM AHEAD !!!

This is brilliant. I would like to share it on Facebook but can't figure out how.

It would be a bit like a panda consuming a whale.

Lara, ha!

Robin, for now just cut n paste the URL.

We will add BIG SHARE BUTTONS soon.

I just found an article from December 2006 declaring Yahoo should buy LinkedIn.

That takes me back.

Facebook should buy Yahoo. Seriously.

Most of my friends that left Yahoo in recent months took jobs at LinkedIn... lol!

Well then maybe their cultures are more compatible than I thought. :)

Yahoo just laid off its data scientists -- their Hadoop folks -- and I believe they'd find a happy home at LinkedIn, too.

LinkedIn and Facebook are built for longevity.

"FULL STEAM AHEAD" HAHA love it

You and me both, Devin! :)

I woke up today thinking this again.

Especially given LinkedIn's great earnings report and their ability to monetize ads: http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-why-linkedin-makes-a-profit-selling-ads-when-pandora-and-groupon-dont-2012-5?op=1

Compare with Facebook: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-best-facebook-campaigns-that-wont-be-seen-in-america-2012-5?op=1

Looks like Yahoo's CEO is stepping down. http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/13/report-thompson-out-media-man-levinsohn-in-as-yahoos-interim-ceo/

Fast forward to July. Dear Marissa, Facebook should buy Yahoo. Seriously.