Elliott Management acquires stake in Salesforce
2023.01.23 11:09
Elliott Management acquires stake in Salesforce
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – The cloud-based software company Salesforce (NYSE:) has received a multi-billion dollar investment from activist investor Elliott Management Corp. Inc, as stated by those with knowledge of the situation.
What Elliott, one of the most well-known activist investors in the world, is advocating for at Salesforce is unclear.
Jesse Cohn, managing partner at Elliott, told Reuters, “We look forward to working constructively with Salesforce to realize the value befitting a company of its stature.”
Cohn, who has been on the boards of Twitter and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:), two technology companies, referred to Salesforce as “one of the world’s leading software companies.”
“Developed a deep respect for Marc Benioff and what he has built,” he added. Benioff and Bret Taylor, who is expected to leave the company this month, co-founded and lead Salesforce.
On Monday, CNBC reported that activist investor Jeff Ubben’s Inclusive Capital Partners had also acquired a stake in Salesforce; however, the size of the holding was not specified in the report.
A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately responded to by the hedge fund or Salesforce, and Elliott declined to comment.
In the early hours of Monday trading, Salesforce shares gained about 3%.
Elliot made the investment after Starboard Value said in October that it had an undisclosed stake in Salesforce and that the company was getting a discount on its value because it had a “subpar mix of growth and profitability.”
After rapid pandemic hiring left it with a bloated workforce, Salesforce, which is valued at $151.3 billion, announced plans earlier this year to cut jobs by 10% and close some offices.
The share price of the business has increased by 14% this year, but it has lost more than 30% in the last 52 weeks.
Elliott has invested heavily in technology. It recently obtained a position on Pinterest’s board (NYSE:) Inc when Elliott portfolio manager Marc Steinberg was appointed a director.
The first publication to report that Elliott had acquired a stake in Salesforce was the Wall Street Journal.
