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☆ Abuses Proliferate in Police Squads Like Memphis's Scorpion Unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

Street Crime Unit. Jon Naso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesMemphis police chief Davis also has prior experience with special street crime units. Street crime squads are popular among politicians who say only aggressive policing will reduce violent crime. In the late 1990s, the Street Crime Unit tripled in size, amid a panic over a rising number of homicides. In a city grappling with violent crime, authorities touted the Street Crime Unit as a bright spot.

☆ If Marc Benioff is forced to sell Slack to appease activist investors, it would probably be worth less than half the $28 billion he paid just 18 months ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He calculated Slack would be worth less than half what Salesforce paid for it, and could still be worth selling. Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff has multiple activist investors with stakes in his company, circling him to demand changes. One possible outcome is that Benioff is forced to sell or spinoff Slack, according to analysts. It paid more than twice that — $27.7 billion — in an acquisition that closed just 18 months ago. Under siege from fearsome activist investorsWhen we say Benioff has multiple activist investors circling, we mean he's practically under siege.

☆ Op-ed: Salesforce appoints ValueAct’s Morfit to its board and a proxy fight may loom ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The firm's principals are generally on the boards of half of ValueAct's core portfolio positions and have had 55 public company board seats over 22 years. Adding Morfit to the board of Salesforce makes a ton of sense regardless of the activist environment. Morfit has experience helping management increase both growth and margins from a board level, and both can be improved at Salesforce. The looming question is whether he will initially be doing this with an activist cloud hanging over the company's head in the form of a proxy fight by one of the other activists involved. It likely had been engaging with Salesforce management for several months, and this appointment may have happened just as a threatened proxy fight was reported.

☆ Activist Elliott to nominate directors at Salesforce -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Elliott Management Corp, the activist investment firm that recently made a multimillion-dollar investment in Salesforce (CRM.N), plans to nominate several director candidates at the cloud-based software company, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Elliott, which invests more than $55 billion, is currently interviewing a number of people including technology industry executives and executives in other industries, the people said. Elliott has long invested in technology companies and in the past reached settlements for board seats with companies including Pinterest (PINS.N), Twitter and eBay (EBAY.O). News that Elliott expects to nominate directors, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, came after Bloomberg reported Salesforce was considering refreshing its board, a step some companies take preemptively if activists start building holdings of their shares. At Salesforce there are at least four activist investors including Elliott, Starboard Value, Jeff Ubben's Inclusive Capital and ValueAct, the firm Ubben founded and which is now run by Mason Morfit, sources familiar with the matter said.

☆ Facing growing calls for reform, Salesforce could use some fresh faces on its board
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The enterprise software giant is considering at least three potential board appointees, Bloomberg News reported Thursday , citing people with knowledge of the matter. Among those reportedly in conversation to join Salesforce's board are former Carnival Cruise CEO Arnold Donald, Mastercard CFO Sachin Mehra and Mason Morfit, the chief executive of ValueAct Capital. And the firm is now planning to nominate candidates for Salesforce's board, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday . Bottom line We're encouraged by the Bloomberg report because Salesforce's board could undoubtedly use a refresh, with multiple directors having served for 10 years or more, according to FactSet. New board members, coupled with growing activist pressure, could could be just the boost Salesforce needs and that the market wants to see.

☆ The rally says it's not about the Fed — listen to Thursday's 'Homestretch'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe rally that won't quit says it's not all about the Fed — listen to Thursday's 'Homestretch'Jim Cramer says that people just seem to want to own stocks this year. More soft-landing hopes after morning economic data. Also, chatter about possible changes on Salesforce's board. A transcript will be added shortly.

☆ Actor Matthew McConaughey and musician Will.i.am are often involved in company strategy discussions at Salesforce, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Matthew McConaughey and Will.i.am have taken part in corporate strategy discussions at Salesforce, the FT reported. The FT reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, that actor McConaughey and musician and producer Will.i.am are often included in business conversations. McConaughey, meanwhile, has been heavily involved in Salesforce's advertising in recent years, including appearing in its 2022 Super Bowl commercial. According to a different source cited by the FT, McConaughey and Will.i.am are only involved in informal conversations in the business, not meetings around corporate strategy. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider about Will.i.am and McConaughey's apparent involvement in corporate discussions.

☆ Salesforce is now facing the very real threat of activist shareholders overthrowing its board and forcing the sale of mega-acquisitions like Slack and Tableau
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Salesforce is now being targeted by a second activist investor: Elliott Management. Activist investors could overhaul Salesforce's board and force it to divest acquisitions like Slack. The cloud software giant is now being targeted by activist firm Elliott Management, which has taken a big stake in the company. Walravens says that the activist firms could encourage Salesforce to rethink its office strategy. The company has invested a lot in a global real estate footprint including its Salesforce Tower headquarters in San Francisco.

☆ More than 500 Salesforce employees wrote to execs demanding layoff answers. Read the leaked messages showing how management responded.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Salesforce appeared to have responded to employees' questions through a Q&A titled "Top Questions from Employees," posted to an internal Slack channel by Salesforce executive vice president of employee communications and engagement Jill Unikel. Are you a Salesforce employee or do you have insight to share? SELECTION CRITERIAQuestion: What criteria was used to decide who was in the 10% of employees affected? If an affected employee finds a new role internally before their termination date, they will remain a Salesforce employee and not receive their communicated severance. BENEFITS FOR AFFECTED EMPLOYEESQuestion: Did affected employee receive benefits included in their severance?

☆ Elliott Management's Jesse Cohn just picked his next target for an activist campaign: an ailing software giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A battle is on the horizon between Jesse Cohn and Salesforce. But the first rule of activist investing is you HAVE to talk about your activist investment. Jesse Cohn, a managing partner at the hedge fund Elliott Management, is leading his firm's latest activist campaign against troubled tech giant Salesforce via a multibillion-dollar stake. Activist investing, as we've previously covered, is set to be all the rage in 2023. Click here to learn more about Jesse Cohn, a tenacious activist investor who just set his sights on Salesforce.

☆ Activist investors in Salesforce spell good news for shareholders like us
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Pressure from activist investors is mounting at Club holding Salesforce (CRM). Elliott's investment in Salesforce comes roughly three months after activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a position in the company. Moreover, Jim Cramer has said, at least two other investors with activist backgrounds, including Jeff Ubben , have taken a stake in Salesforce. If these high-profile investors thought Salesforce was irreparably damaged company, whose tech was at a competitive disadvantage, they may have looked elsewhere. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Salesforce employees fear deeper cuts now that a second activist investor has a stake. Elliott, the world's most feared hedge fund, has confirmed it wants changes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Feared activist investor Elliott Management now has a multibillion-dollar position in Salesforce. This is the company's second activist investor after Starboard Value disclosed a significant stake in October. Elliott Management — the world's most feared activist investor — now has a multibillion-dollar position in Salesforce, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, and some employees worry Elliott's attention could lead to further layoffs. Elliott is Salesforce's second activist investor after Starboard Value disclosed a significant stake in Salesforce in October. Activist investor firms such as Elliott "are tough," another said.

☆ There's a brutal culling going on in the tech industry — here are the recent layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

We're barely three weeks into the new year — and tens of thousands of tech employees are already staring down the barrel of unemployment. In today's special edition, we're taking a look at Insider's recent coverage of the brutal wipeout — bringing you inside the chaos at these major firms and the upheaval across the industry. Stay tuned: We'll have more in Monday's regular edition of 10 Things in Tech — if this was forwarded to you, sign up for the newsletter here. Until then, keep up with the tech industry news by downloading Insider's app and signing up for notifications. Jemal Countess / StringerAnd across the industry:

Shares of Alphabet, which had plunged by nearly 39% in 2022, rose more than 5% on the news to $98.02. Like many big technology firms, Alphabet overhired during the height of the Covid pandemic to meet burgeoning demand. AMZN 1Y mountain Amazon (AMZN) 1-year performance The Club view: Amazon did not go far enough in its cost-cutting efforts. Bottom line Alphabet and other Big Tech players can't control the tough economic environment, but they can control how they manage expenses. Google parent company Alphabet will report first quarter earnings today after the closing bell.

☆ BRUTAL JOB CUTS JANUARY: More than 55,000 tech workers are being laid off as Microsoft, Google, and others make deep cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce have all announced layoffs this year. All told, some 55,300 employees from more than a 154 tech companies have been affected this year. Microsoft said it's letting go of 10,000 workers over the next few months, while Google will let go of 12,000 employees. The layoffs foreshadow more cuts and potential pay reductions in store for workers this year. Read Insider's coverage of the latest wave of tech layoffs:Google is laying off around 12,000 workers as tech giants continue to slash jobs.

☆ The 4-day workweek may not be the answer to workplace productivity and flexibility, Davos panelists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, included a panel on the four-day workweek. "We have had a static, for many countries, five-day week for about a century," Grant said Thursday at his panel discussion called "The Four-Day Week." While a four-day workweek seems like an obvious answer, there are some key factors to consider before making the change, they agreed. The four-day week "is very much a discussion for the upper class," van Gennip said. Flexibility through reorganizationWhether it be a four-day workweek or another method of schedule restructuring, a focus on both flexibility and productivity also benefits companies, van 't Noordende said.

☆ China says it's sending its junior air force pilots to keep an eye on increasing activity by US spy planes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Minnie Chan | South China Morning Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chinese pilots fresh out of training are being deployed to respond to flights by foreign jets. Without giving details about the foreign aircraft, it said the intensive training programme pushed junior pilots to master practical air confrontation skills and countermeasures within a short time. Chinese fighter pilots during combat exercises around Taiwan in August 2022. "I received radar warnings from foreign aircraft soon after heading to the scene, meaning my aircraft was targeted [by air-to-air missiles]." In 2021, large US reconnaissance aircraft conducted around 1,200 close-in spying flights over the South China Sea, the think tank said in a report in March.

☆ An average 1,600 tech workers have been laid off every day of 2023 so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On an average, at least 1,600 tech sector workers have been laid off every day of 2023 so far, per Layoffs.fyi. That's as 91 tech companies globally have axed 24,151 jobs, just 15 days into 2023. 1,023 tech companies laid off 154,256 workers in 2022, per data aggregated by Layoffs.fyi. That's as 91 tech companies globally have already laid off 24,151 workers just 15 days into 2023, according to data aggregated by Layoffs.ai. This is already about 15% of the 154,256 workers who were laid off by over a thousand tech companies in 2022.

☆ Italy arrests Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

1 fugitive, convicted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, was arrested on Monday at a private clinic in Palermo, Sicily, after 30 years on the run, Italian paramilitary police said. Messina Denaro was captured at the clinic where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed medical condition, said Carabinieri Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, who heads the police force's special operations squad. Messina Denaro was taken to a secret location by police immediately after the arrest, Italian state television reported. Messina Denaro, who had a power base in the port city of Trapani, in western Sicily, was considered Sicily's Cosa Nostra top boss even while a fugitive. Messina Denaro, who tried in absentia and convicted of dozens of murders, faces multiple life sentences.

☆ Salesforce's Marc Benioff joked 'Did I miss something?' after arriving late to a meeting the day after laying-off 8,000 staff, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Marc Benioff showed up 15 minutes late to an all-company meeting after layoffs, per The Times of London. The Times reports that Salesforce's CEO then upset many employees by joking: "Did I miss something?" Insider previously reported how staff expressed anger at Benioff, saying he dodged questions about layoffs. In an email to staff, Benioff said: "As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we're now facing, and I take responsibility for that." The company is also reportedly considering laying-off a further 10% of staff depending on financial performance.

☆ The US Air Force's newest fighter jet just showed off a new way to fire missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Stefano D'Urso | The Aviationist | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In November, F-15EX fighter jets fired missiles from their new weapon stations for the first time. The new outer wing weapon stations increase the F-15EX's payload over that of its predecessor. This Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force mission was the first Air Force test flight to validate the weapons could be fired effectively and safely from those stations. Now, the new pylons are equipped with two LAU-128 missile rails each, adding four missile stations to the payload. An F-15EX takes flight for the first time out of Eglin Air Force Base in April 2021.

☆ Salesforce insiders expect the sales teams to be hit with layoffs in February. Some say the company may cut an additional 10% later this year.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce insiders are expecting layoffs to sales staff in February, after the fiscal year ends. Employees told Insider there has been chaos and confusion since Salesforce announced layoffs. Execs have repeatedly told employees, through emails and all-hands meetings, to expect rounds of layoffs to last for weeks, Insider reported. So Salespeople were largely untouched by the company's first round of cuts earlier this month, sources told Insiders. In November, Salesforce cut hundreds of people, many of them in sales, for what it referred to as performance-based reasons.

☆ Walmart provides its GoLocal services to Salesforce clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Siddharth Cavale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) on Thursday said it has entered into a partnership with software giant Salesforce (CRM.N) to provide its retail customers with store pickup and delivery services using Walmart's vast transportation network. Retailers have been adding such delivery services for customers since the pandemic drove many people to shop online. Since its launch GoLocal has completed more than 3 million deliveries so far, Harsit Patel, vice president at Walmart GoLocal said on a media call. More clients mean higher order volumes, pickup locations and increased route density that lowers costs per order. The services will be offered through Salesforce's AppExchange, its app store for businesses, starting this spring.

☆ Walmart partners with Salesforce to offer GoLocal services to its retail clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Siddharth Cavale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Shopping trolley is seen in front of Walmart logo in this illustration, July 24, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) on Thursday said it has entered into a partnership with software giant Salesforce (CRM.N) to provide its retail customers with store pickup and delivery services using Walmart's vast transportation network. Since its launch GoLocal has completed more than 3 million deliveries so far, Harsit Patel, vice president at Walmart GoLocal said on a media call. While adding more revenue streams, the onboarding of more retail clients helps the world's largest retailer operate its fleet more efficiently. More clients mean higher order volumes, pickup locations and increased route density that lowers costs per order.

☆ Ongoing headaches with F-35 fighter jets are rippling through the rest of the US military's combat aircraft fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

US Air Force maintainers work on an F-35A at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in February 2020. Nial BradshawRussia's air force has been mocked for poor maintenance that has undercut its airpower in the Ukraine war. Particularly troubling was a November 2022 GAO study that analyzed readiness of 49 US military aircraft models between 2011 and 2021. A reassembled F-35A is hoisted during a training course at Hill Air Force Base in September 2022. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps together plan to spend $20.2 billion a year for tactical aircraft development and procurement between now and 2027.

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