Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg, Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Image
Elliott Management has withdrawn its director slate for Salesforce, the two companies announced Monday.
Why it matters: The pair won't square off at Salesforce's annual meeting, in what could have been the first major activist shareholder challenge to Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff.
Details: The remarkably positive tone of today's announcement suggests that Benioff is no longer on Elliott's target list.
- “I have great respect for Marc and his team, and I have become deeply impressed by their strong ongoing commitment to profitable growth," said Elliott Managing Partner Jesse Cohn.
- "I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jesse and the Elliott team over the last few months," Benioff added.
Of note: Salesforce announced bumper financial results on March 1, along with significant progress on costs. The announcement took pressure off the company and appears to have appeased Elliott and other activists.