DoorDash told staff not to connect with Instacart employees on LinkedIn. The deal won't close until 2028.

DoorDash filed an internal FAQ with the SEC on Thursday that contained, among other things, a question about LinkedIn. Specifically: can employees connect with Instacart colleagues on the platform? The answer was no. Not right now. Not even if you already know them.

The reason is legally coherent, if slightly absurd in practice. DoorDash agreed to buy Instacart for $17 billion, but the deal isn't expected to close until the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028. Until then, the two companies must behave as competitors, which means no coordinating on pricing, no discussing jobs across company lines, and apparently no clicking Accept on a connection request from someone who is about to become your colleague.

Several M&A lawyers told Business Insider they had never seen a LinkedIn restriction in this context before. One former FTC chairman called it "a great antitrust examination question," which is expert for: nobody's quite sure.

What's quietly remarkable is that employees will spend the better part of two years knowing their company is being bought, knowing who's buying it, and being asked to maintain a pantomime of indifference on a networking site. That is a long time to pretend.