LinkedIn connects with ex-Yahoo exec as new CEO

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California -- LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman is stepping aside as the company's CEO for the second time in a little over two years to turn the job over to his hand-picked successor.

This time around, Hoffman has picked former Yahoo executive Jeff Weiner to run the Internet's largest site for professional networking.

The change in command announced Wednesday comes six months after Hoffman hired Weiner as LinkedIn's interim president.

Weiner's arrival coincided with reclaiming his job as the Mountain View-based company's chief executive from Dan Nye, who had been recruited from the software industry to run LinkedIn in early 2007.

Hoffman will continue to work closely with Weiner as LinkedIn's executive chairman and largest shareholder.