Friday, March 29

Key LinkedIn Exec Eduardo Vivas to Quit Later This Year

Eduardo Vivas, an executive in charge of shaping one of LinkedIn’s biggest revenue generators, plans to leave, a company spokeswoman confirmed on Friday.

Vivas is the head of product for Mountain View, California-based LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions business, which includes paid tools for corporate recruiters to find candidates on the work-focused social network.

It accounted for $1.8 billion of $3 billion in total revenue in 2015, the last full year of financial results before Microsoft Corp acquired the company last year for $26.2 billion.

Vivas plans to leave later this year, the spokeswoman said. His departure comes amid a broader change in how the company handles product responsibilities in its upper ranks after its sale to Microsoft.

Until January, LinkedIn was somewhat unusual among Silicon Valley tech companies in that Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner took on responsibility for the look and feel of its products, which also include messaging for paid members and a publishing platform, both aimed at consumers.

David Thacker, whom Vivas reported to, helped Weiner oversee business products, while Ryan Roslansky assisted the CEO on the consumer side.

Under a new senior management structure announced internally in January, Roslansky was promoted to oversee all LinkedIn products. The move freed up Weiner, who remained LinkedIn’s CEO after its sale, to oversee the combination with Microsoft, meeting regularly with the Redmond, Washington, company. Like Weiner, Roslansky is a Yahoo veteran.

Vivas, who came to LinkedIn with its $120 million acquisition of human resources software startup Bright in 2014, plans to take time off to travel, the spokeswoman said. His decision to leave was not connected to the broader senior management changes, the spokeswoman said.

He will stay with LinkedIn long enough to ensure a smooth transition of his job to Dan Shapero, who is taking over the Talent Solutions business, along with LinkedIn’s offerings for job seekers, and reports to Roslansky.