Nov 27, 2020 - Technology

Salesforce bid to acquire Slack puts pressure on Microsoft

Axios

Marc Benioff autographs his book, "Trailblazer," at the Economic Club of Washington last year: Photo: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa USA via Reuters

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's bid for Slack — which is valued at $17 billion and would be his biggest acquisition yet — heats up his longtime rivalry with Microsoft, The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley writes.

The state of play: Microsoft, which once tried to acquire Slack (and Salesforce), in 2016 launched its own workplace collaboration tool, Teams.

Slack would extend "the footprint of what Salesforce goes after," said Jefferies analyst Brent Thill. "Not everyone uses a sales system, but everyone can use collaboration. The beauty of Slack and Teams is that it touches everything inside enterprises."

Reality check: "Microsoft’s market valuation tops $1.6 trillion, about six times that of Slack and Salesforce combined."

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Salesforce bid to acquire Slack puts pressure on Microsoft

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