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00:00Let's get straight to Ed Hammond. You broke the news. What would these individuals bring to the board? I Caroline Hyde, I think first and foremost, probably a prophylactic against the other activists who are circling this company. I mean, stop order there. There we think Jeff Toobin with his inclusive capital fund there. And you see this fairly often in these bigger companies that might have several dissident shareholders that they will strike a deal with with one group and bring some of those onto the board. And as I say, it's often a way of really defending against some of the other activists. And what they might see is some of the less savory claims against the company. Ed, it's Ed, good to see you. Why is Salesforce under attack from so many different activists right now? I think a couple of reasons. The first is it's less exciting, if you like, which is that it's it's just a safe bet. I mean, it's down, I think, 50 percent from its highs in 2021. But unlike some of the smaller companies they might normally target, it's unlikely to get wiped out. So you have quite a safe place to park your money one way or another. The other reason that I think this applies to a lot of big tech companies is it just doesn't have great corporate governance historically. And that has been okay when the market was rising and everything was was looking great. But as soon as things start looking bad, these tend to be the first companies they get raked over by the activists. And you're seeing that in some other big tech companies as well. I also think there has been a sort of series of acquisitions that have been quite large and not necessarily that successful. And despite Benioff saying that he was going to slow down on that, he obviously has continued to do it. And I think stuff like that really is kind of a red rag to an activist because they know that there will be some long only investors, potentially even some retail investors who have similar discontent about it. So when it comes to Tableau, when it comes to slack. We're going to see such names as this push for disposals. Is it for the cost cutting? What sort of discipline do they want? Yeah, it's a great question. And at this point, we don't know is the answer. I mean, look, Elliot have been most public in terms of their recent statements, have said they like Benioff, they like the company, they want to work constructively. That usually is sort of activist code for let us into the boardroom. We will give you Covid to make some job cuts. So perhaps it would be harder to make on your own, on your own or of your own volition in terms of spinning off and separating assets here. I think there is a case to be made for some divestitures here. But again, some of these deals that were struck at a fairly high point in the market. It's difficult to see Salesforce just exiting and getting anything other than a discount.

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Salesforce Adds Three to Board Amid Activist Pressure

Salesforce is appointing three new independent directors to its board as it seeks to stave off pressure from activist investors. Bloomberg's Ed Hammond reports on "Bloomberg Technology." (This interview aired on January 26, 2023.) (Source: Bloomberg)

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