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Spotify reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, notching record quarterly profit and beating estimates on the top and bottom lines, after a year of deep cost cutting and streamlining. The company expects net new MAUs of 16 million, for a total of 631 million monthly active users. Spotify attributed the slowed growth to "moderated marketing activity" — driven by cost cutting — resulting in "more normalized growth." ValueAct, which manages nearly $12 billion in assets, has a 0.5% Spotify stake valued at $280 million. When the activist investor first disclosed the position in 2023, it owned around 1.2% of Spotify.
Persons: Daniel Ek, Joe Rogan, MAUs, Mason Morfit's ValueAct Organizations: Spotify, LSEG, StreetAccount Spotify Locations: Tokyo, Swedish
Trian claims Disney's board has failed to generate sufficient returns in recent years as subscription streaming losses have mounted and traditional TV subscribers have declined. Early vote countBoth Disney and Trian received support from influential shareholders ahead of Wednesday's meeting. Roughly one-third of Disney's shareholders are retail shareholders, who historically vote in small numbers in annual meetings. The arrangement still raised questions about ValueAct's support for the company and whether Disney's board should have disclosed the prior relationship. WATCH: Disney board battle reaches final moments
Persons: Bob Iger, Mickey Mouse, Valerie Macon, Nelson Peltz, Jay Rasulo, They've, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Michael Froman, Peltz, Ike Perlmutter, Trian, Disney's, Iger, Bob Chapek, Patrick T, Adam Jeffery, Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, CNBC's, George Lucas, Laurene Powell Jobs, Lucas, Powell Jobs, Ken Squire, Rowe Price, Rowe, Mason Morfit's, ValueAct, Neuberger Berman, John Ferguson, Rasulo —, Glass Lewis, Iger's, Gorman, Jeremy Darroch, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, Heidi Gutman, Lagomasino, shouldn't, Blackwells, Rasulo, Jason Aintabi, John Foley, Jessica Schnell, Craig Hatkoff, Leah Solivan, ValueAct hasn't Organizations: AFP, Getty Images Disney, Voters, Trian Partners, Disney, PepsiCo, Marvel, SEC, Fallon, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC Disney, CNBC, Star Wars, LucasArts, Pixar, BlackRock, Institutional, California Public Employees, Yacktman Asset Management, Saratoga Proxy, ISS, Sky, Trian Fund Management, NBCU, Bank, NBCUniversal, Green, Comcast Locations: Los Angeles, New York
Blackwells Capital, which previously voiced support for Iger and Disney management, said ValueAct had been managing more than $350 million in Disney pension funds in a relationship stretching back to 2013. Blackwells has estimated that Disney paid a cumulative $95 million in fees to ValueAct from 2014 to 2022. Disney and Trian have been in the throes of a proxy fight since October, with the fight intensifying as Disney's annual shareholder meeting nears. Disney has repeatedly voiced its support for Iger and has highlighted that its directors have experience overseeing successful succession planning. Representatives for Disney, Blackwells and ValueAct did not respond to requests for comment outside of normal business hours.
Persons: Robert Iger, Blackwells, Mason Morfit, ValueAct, Bob Iger, Nelson Peltz's Trian, Trian, Bob Chapek, Peltz Organizations: Disney, Dolby Theatre, ValueAct Capital, Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners, Blackwells, Department of Labor Locations: Hollywood , California, Iger
Spotify is cutting two big podcasts, "Heavyweight" and "Stolen," Bloomberg reported. The podcasts in question, "Heavyweight" and "Stolen," will be canceled after completing their current seasons, the report said. Given the cancellations, the streaming giant's viral Spotify Wrapped campaign might soon be overshadowed by a new mantra: "Spotify Scrapped." "Heavyweight" was listed as one of The New York Times' top podcasts of the year and "Stolen" won a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award. The news of the podcasts' axing comes as Spotify made its third round of layoffs this year.
Persons: Daniel Ek, , Ek, Mason Morfit, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Organizations: Bloomberg, Analysts, Service, Spotify, The New York Times, Peabody, Spotify's Gimlet, Financial Times Locations: Stockholm
A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 14, 2017. ValueAct and Disney declined to comment. Disney's stock price could trade between $120 and $190 a share, far above its current $94.19 price, ValueAct has suggested, the people said. Unlike other activist investors who noisily push for change through public presentations, ValueAct prefers to work quietly behind the scenes. In January, ValueAct CEO Mason Morfit was invited onto Salesforce's (CRM.N) board at a time the company had at least five activist shareholders.
Persons: Brendan McDermid, ValueAct, Mickey, Nelson Peltz's, Peltz, Shaw, Trian, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Dawn Chmielewski, Arsheeya, Arun Koyyur, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Walt Disney Company, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, ValueAct, Walt Disney, Disney, 13D Monitor, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, Fund Management, Management, Capital Partners, Microsoft, Svea, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bengaluru
The two hedge funds had each cut their investments in Salesforce during the second quarter. Still Starboard Value the first activist to speak publicly in October 2022 about needed changes at Salesforce cut its stake again, the filings show. On Sept. 30, the hedge fund owned 1.7 million shares, marking a 14% drop from what it owned at the end of the second quarter. Light Street Capital Management cut its stake by 44%, while Polen Capital Management trimmed it by 3.2%, the filings show. While Salesforce's stock price lost some ground during the third quarter, it has continued to move higher and closed trading at $221.18 on Tuesday.
Persons: Porte, Benoit Tessier, Salesforce, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Capital Management, Farallon Capital Management, Elliott Investment Management, ValueAct, Investment, Securities and Exchange, Street Capital Management, Polen Capital Management, Svea, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Salesforce, Polen
We're pleased to see a new activist firm come to Disney 's (DIS) support since CEO Bob Iger's turnaround strategy for the entertainment giant has been taking time to show meaningful results. ValueAct started to build its Disney stake this past summer, and the stock is now among its largest positions. DIS YTD mountain DIS stock performance year-to-date. ValueAct isn't the only activist firm that has built a stake in Disney. This new Disney buy during the third quarter comes after Peltz's recent push in October to potentially reignite a fight for multiple seats on Disney's board.
Persons: We're, Bob Iger's, ValueAct, Ken Squire, Mason Morfit, Squire, Nelson Peltz's, Nelson, Jim Cramer, Peltz, Iger, Jim Cramer's, Jim, Walt, Joe Raedle Organizations: Disney, Management, SEC, CNBC, Netflix, Walt Disney, Getty Locations: Disney, Hulu, Orlando , Florida
The Recruit logo is displayed at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Mayu Sakoda/ Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - ValueAct Capital Management has bought stakes in job search site Indeed's parent Recruit Holdings (6098.T) and in online travel services provider Expedia Group (EXPE.O) and believes both are poised for strong growth. Recruit is valued at roughly $49 billion while Expedia has a market value of about $17 billion. ValueAct CEO Mason Morfit was invited onto Salesforce's board this year and the stock price has surged 64% since January. There was no mention of Recruit or Expedia.
Persons: Mayu, Expedia, ValueAct, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, ValueAct Capital Management, Recruit Holdings, Expedia, Reuters, Recruit, Microsoft, Danaher Corp, Roblox, Alarm.com Holdings, Svea, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Austin , Texas, Expedia, Illumina
ValueAct Capital has taken a significant stake in Disney (DIS) and has been in dialogue with Disney's management, the Activist Spotlight has learned. It operates through two segments, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Activist Commentary: ValueAct has been a premier corporate governance investor for over 20 years. ValueAct began buying Disney this summer during the WGA and SAG strikes and it is one of the firm's largest positions. This certainly gives the Disney board an alternative they were not expecting.
Persons: ValueAct, Warner, Mason Morfit, Wordle, Bob Iger, Iger, Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, Nelson Peltz, Ken Squire Organizations: ValueAct, Disney, Business, Disney Media, Entertainment, Disney Parks, Warner Bros, Paramount, Netflix, WGA, SAG, Microsoft, Adobe, New York Times, Spotify, Century Fox, ESPN, Hulu, Athletic, Trian Partners, 13D Locations: Salesforce
The extraordinary activist-investor interest in Salesforce (CRM) eased further in the second quarter, according to the latest regulatory filings from influential Wall Street pros. His firm still owned about 2 million Salesforce shares as of June 30. Tepper also bought 2.3 million shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and 480,000 shares of Apple (AAPL) during the second quarter. As a result, Appaloosa's holdings as of mid-August may differ significantly from the conclusion of the second quarter. GOOGL YTD mountain Alphabet YTD performance Bets on Google's parent company, Alphabet (GOOGL), varied in the second quarter.
Persons: Dan Loeb's, Jeff Smith's, Salesforce, Jeffrey, Starboard's Jeff Smith, Smith, he's, 13Fs, it's, Marc Benioff, Mason Morfit, Paul Singer's Elliott, Elliott, Elliott —, Nelson Peltz's, Bob Iger, Peltz, David Tepper, Tepper, Bill Ackman's, Seth Klarman, Loeb, Klarman, Stanley Druckenmiller, Druckenmiller, Eli Lilly, That's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Kim Kulish Organizations: Inclusive Capital, CNBC, Paul Singer's Elliott Management, Constellation, Club, Constellation Brands, Corona, Modelo, DIS, Disney, Management, Walt Disney Co, Peltz, Nvidia, Appaloosa Management, Microsoft, Micro Devices, Apple, AMD, Bill Ackman's Pershing, Capital Management, Oracle, Duquesne Family Office, Jim Cramer's Charitable, Corbis, Getty Locations: Salesforce, Tuesday's
The changes in ownership came after significant overhauls at Salesforce helped push its share price higher. Inclusive Capital Management, one of four activists closely involved with Salesforce in early 2023 along with Starboard, Elliott Investment Management and ValueAct Capital, exited even earlier, according to filings. ValueAct's ownership stake remained unchanged at 3.5 million at the end of the second quarter, its filing shows. Sachem Head Capital Management cut its stake by 20% after Salesforce made up nearly 5% of its portfolio. During the second quarter the stock price moved to $211 a share from $199 a share.
Persons: Mike Segar, Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Salesforce, U.S ., LLC, Inclusive Capital Management, Elliott Investment Management, ValueAct, Inclusive, Sachem, Capital Management, Farallon Capital Management, Light, Capital, Svea, Thomson Locations: New York, Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Salesforce, Polen
At the same time, ValueAct told investors in a letter seen by Reuters that three partners, including the firm's president Brandon Boze, are leaving. Boze will retire from the firm in 2024 and partners Dylan Haggart and Sarah Coyne will leave. ValueAct also pushed to replace four Seven & i Holdings directors with its own candidates this year, a campaign rejected by shareholders. "Rob has built what we believe is the premiere engagement investing franchise in Japan," the letter said. ValueAct said Coyne identified long-term super cycles as the market reached to short term datapoints.
Persons: Robert Hale, Mason Morfit, ValueAct, Brandon Boze, Boze, Dylan Haggart, Sarah Coyne, Morfit, Jeff Ubben, Hale, Rob, Haggart, Coyne, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, San, Fund, Japan Fund, Olympus, Holdings, Elliott Investment Management, Ubben's Inclusive, Spotify, New York Times, Svea, Thomson Locations: Japan, San Francisco, Seagate, Salesforce
July 17 (Reuters) - Salesforce (CRM.N) appointed Wachtell, Lipton's Sabastian Niles as its chief legal officer on Monday, months after the leading activist lawyer helped defend the business software provider against several hedge funds that had called for changes at the company. "I'm thrilled to welcome Sabastian to Salesforce as part of our world-class management team," CEO Marc Benioff said. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a major law firm sought out by corporate America to handle merger deals as well as activist investment firms' push for changes. Niles spent nearly 17 years at the law firm, where he began his career as a summer associate after earning his law degree from Harvard, rising to become a partner. Niles was part of the team at Wachtell when it advised Salesforce after Starboard Value, ValueAct and Elliott Investment Management pressured it for making key changes earlier this year.
Persons: Wachtell, Lipton's Sabastian Niles, I'm, Marc Benioff, Lipton, Katz, Niles, Bill Ackman's, Jeffrey Ubben, Mason Morfit's, Salesforce, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Yuvraj Malik, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Rosen, Harvard, Bill Ackman's Pershing, Capital Management, Elliott Investment Management, Svea, Thomson Locations: Salesforce, America, Wachtell, New York, Bengaluru
Lots of Club holdings, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOGL), were among the stocks traded by some of Wall Street's biggest investors and money managers in the first quarter. That firm, Jeffrey Ubben's Inclusive Capital, had owned 1.63 million Salesforce shares at the end of December, worth nearly $217 million at the time. Jeff Smith's Starboard Value also sold some Salesforce shares in Q1, leaving the firm with 2.5 million shares at the end of March. Mason Morfit's ValueAct Capital amplified its Salesforce stake in the first quarter, ending with 3.5 million shares, up from just 560,221 shares at the end of 2022. Loeb's Third Point amassed 4.75 million shares of Alphabet, worth $492.7 million at the end of the first quarter.
ValueAct adds a streaming play to its portfolio
  + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com   time to read: +1 min
Mason Morfit's ValueAct Capital Management picked up Spotify last quarter as the music streaming giant rebounded off its 2022 selloff. The ValueAct CEO added about 2.25 million shares to the portfolio. Spotify has surged nearly 70% in the first quarter, regaining ground after dropping 66.3% in 2022. SPOT YTD mountain Spotify YTD It was Morfit's only new position in the quarter, but he grew Salesforce by a whopping 500%, while Insight Enterprises got a relatively modest 2% boost. Similarly, KKR came in at the second biggest holding in the portfolio despite the more than 13% trim.
HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - ValueAct Capital’s chief Mason Morfit prefers to chide undervalued conglomerates behind closed doors. In its latest 151-page presentation, ValueAct took its case directly to shareholders, the second time it has seen fit to do so in its history. That highlights the U.S. fund’s frustration from its two-year long campaign calling for Seven & i to spin off its 7-Eleven convenience stores, among other things. That implies a standalone 7-Eleven could be worth 10 trillion yen, roughly a quarter more than its parent today. He may have a point, and in truth ValueAct has far more experience turning around technology companies than food retailers.
"We think the company should spin off 7-Eleven and that this could help close the valuation discount," Artisan Partners Associate Portfolio Manager Ben Herrick, told Reuters. Investors, including Artisan Partners, ValueAct and a domestic institutional investor contacted by Reuters that is not permitted to discuss its views publicly, are blaming Seven & i's stagnant share price on management's attachment to a conglomerate structure. SPIN-OFF PROPOSALThree months ago, ValueAct proposed a tax free spin-off of 7-Eleven, via a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in roughly one year. One investor said 7-Eleven, the company's crown jewel, will stop shining brightly unless it is spun off. A source said Seven & i president Ryuichi Isaka is one of the board members ValueAct wants to replace.
March 24 (Reuters) - ValueAct Capital informed Seven & i Holdings (3382.T) on Friday it would lobby to remove four directors from the Japanese's convenience store operator's 14-member board, citing "a failed corporate strategy." ValueAct, which owns a 4.4% stake of Seven & i, had called on the company's management in January to spin-off of its 7-Eleven convenience store chain. The letter did not state how ValueAct will seek to oust the four directors, whom it did not publicly identify. ValueAct, which is led by Mason Morfit, won a board seat earlier this year at cloud computing company Salesforce (CRM.N). Six new directors joined Seven & i's board last year.
Salesforce sufficiently acquiesces to angry mob
  + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +4 min
The software developer revealed financial progress in its quarterly results, indicated it would throttle pricey deals and installed new board members, including a representative from ValueAct Capital. Co-Founder and Chief Executive Marc Benioff said on Wednesday that improving profitability is the company’s top priority. As evidence of the commitment, Salesforce said in January that it would lay off 10% of its workers. They are Mason Morfit, chief executive of ValueAct Capital; Sachin Mehra, Mastercard’s finance chief; and Arnold Donald, the former CEO of Carnival. Assertive investors Starboard Value, ValueAct Capital, and Inclusive Capital, have held talks with Salesforce, according to Reuters.
Hedge fund Elliott Management's decision to nominate candidates for Salesforce 's (CRM) board represents an escalation of the activist agitation at the Club holding. The Club generally believes activists' wishes for cost-cutting at Salesforce are positive, as long as Benioff remains at the helm. It's unclear whether Elliott is nominating two or three candidates for Salesforce's board, according to CNBC's David Faber, who broke the story Wednesday morning . Benioff is chairman of Salesforce's board. However, we don't want the activist pressure at Salesforce to cause Benioff to depart the company.
Salesforce 's strong earnings results should give CEO Marc Benioff some relief from ongoing activist pressure at the cloud software firm. "This gives him definitive breathing room right now," Steve Grasso, CEO of Grasso Global, said Wednesday on CNBC's " Fast Money ." Salesforce shares surged 15% in extended trading Wednesday after the cloud software maker beat expectations on the top and bottom lines , and issued a better forecast than Wall Street was expecting. Salesforce in recent months has faced increasing activist pressure from firms such as Elliott Management, Third Point and Starboard Value. To be sure, the strong results may not help Benioff for long, the "Fast Money" traders said.
Salesforce shares soared 16% in extended trading on Wednesday after the cloud software maker beat Wall Street estimates on profit and issued a better-than-expected forecast. Here's how the company did:Earnings: $1.68 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.36 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. $1.68 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.36 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Revenue: $8.38 billion, vs. $7.99 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Salesforce sees adjusted earnings per share for the full 2024 fiscal year of $7.12 to $7.14 and revenue of $34.5 billion to $34.7 billion.
The nominating window closes March 14, and it is unclear if it is two or three nominees, Faber said on " Squawk on the Street ." The slate will likely include Jesse Cohn who runs the activist practice at Elliott, according to people familiar with the situation, but Faber said his position hasn't been confirmed. Activist investor Elliott Management has nominated a slate of directors for Salesforce 's board, sources told CNBC's David Faber on Wednesday. Elliott Management unveiled its multibillion-dollar investment in Salesforce in January, and the company said ValueAct Capital CEO Mason Morfit will join its board this month. Dan Loeb's hedge fund, Third Point, has also built a position in the company, CNBC confirmed in February.
Jim Cramer suggested Saturday that plans for a leadership change at Club holding Salesforce (CRM) — helmed by co-founder Marc Benioff for more than two decades — may be disclosed in the near future. CRM YTD mountain Salesforce (CRM) YTD performance In early January, Salesforce announced a cost-cutting plan that included layoffs and office space reductions — moves that Jim has said were pushed for by Starboard . While Benioff has said he's "never leaving" Salesforce , the company has twice elevated an executive to the role of co-CEO. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Marc Benioff, founder, chairman and CEO of enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.
Big-name investors and hedge funds made moves in Club holdings Disney (DIS), Nvidia (NVDA) and TJX Companies (TJX) in the fourth quarter. Starboard's position stood at 3.03 million shares — valued at $401.22 million — at the end of the fourth quarter, according to the firm's 13F. Inclusive's 1.63 million shares were worth $216.77 million and ValueAct's 560,221 shares carried a market value of $74.28 million. CRM YTD mountain Salesforce (CRM) YTD performance In addition to Salesforce, a number of other Club holdings appeared in hedge funds' quarterly disclosures. Some of the activists swarming at Salesforce have positions in other Club holdings and made changes to them during the fourth quarter.
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