• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Indeed chief economist says we’re entering an era of ‘great mismatch’ thanks to a generational imbalance of workers

1

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Indeed chief economist says we’re entering an era of ‘great mismatch’ thanks to a generational imbalance of workers
FinanceSalesforce

Does Salesforce Need A Hedge Fund Activist to Shake Up the Stock?

By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 15, 2017, 5:16 PM ET

Salesforce may be ripe for a shakeup.

The maker of business software just received some new investors, including three activist hedge funds. Corvex Management, a hedge fund founded by Carl Icahn’s former right hand Keith Meister; Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners; and newer activist fund Sachem Head all bought Salesforce stock at the end of 2016, according to disclosures filed Tuesday.

The hedge funds’ stakes are small compared to typical activist positions, adding up to about 1.3% of Salesforce (CRM) shares combined. The total stake is worth $716 million. Jana Partners, for example, bought nearly 5% of Time Inc. (TIME) (the parent company of Fortune) last year, and has reportedly put pressure on the publishing company to restructure or sell.

It’s unclear whether the activist investors plan to push for major changes at Salesforce, though a few hedge funds have successfully won concessions from their target companies even while owning relatively few shares. Salesforce stock rose more than 1% Wednesday following the disclosures.

While Salesforce has long enjoyed the status of a Wall Street darling—its founder, billionaire Marc Benioff, remains its CEO—its shareholders have reason to be impatient. Although Salesforce has managed to grow sales at a brisk clip of roughly 25% annually, the last time it reported a yearly profit was 2011. The company also rattled investors late last summer when it forecasted lower-than-expected earnings amid signs of a business slowdown.

And last year wasn’t a good one for Salesforce in the market. Its shares dropped almost 13%, far worse than the performance of the S&P 500, which was up nearly 10%, as well as its peers. Shares of Oracle (ORCL), for example, gained more than 5%, while Microsoft (MSFT), another rival in the cloud software business, rose 12% for the year.

Still, Salesforce has bounced back significantly in 2017 so far, up 19% this year alone, and it’s possible that the hedge funds will take their profits and leave without changing a thing at the company. That’s what Corvex did with Hain Celestial (HAIN), whose stock price rose 11% during the final quarter of 2016. The hedge fund sold out of it by the end of the year after first buying the stock just the quarter before.

The same is true of Jana’s Rosenstein and Twitter (TWTR). Rosenstein had raised hopes that he would do something to turn around the social media platform after he revealed a stake in the company last fall, sending Twitter stock up 2%. But the activist has already cashed out of the social media company, according to the new filings.

Meanwhile Sachem Head, started by a protege of Pershing Square activist hedge fund manger Bill Ackman, is just wrapping up a winning campaign at Autodesk (ADSK), currently the firm’s top holding with nearly 6% of the tech company’s shares. Accumulating a position anywhere near that big at Salesforce would be much more expensive. A 5% stake in the company would currently cost more than $2 billion. But if the hedge funds were to combine forces in pursuit of the same goals, an activist campaign isn’t out of the question.

About the Author
By Jen Wieczner
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

employees
CommentarySuccession
Millions of business owners are about to retire. They should sell to their employees
By Matt Helmer and Maxwell JohnsonMay 23, 2026
1 hour ago
Kevin Warsh, chairman of the US Federal Reserve nominee for US President Donald Trump, is sworn in during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on April 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.
EconomyKevin Warsh
‘I almost fell out of my chair’: Fed stalwart Claudia Sahm fears Kevin Warsh’s policies could undo 20 years of policy progress
By Eleanor PringleMay 23, 2026
2 hours ago
A construction worker wearing a yellow helmet wipes his nose with his hand.
North AmericaImmigration
America is suffering a shortage of construction workers and sabotaging its ability to fill vacancies by wiping out the industry’s immigrant backbone
By Sasha RogelbergMay 23, 2026
2 hours ago
ambrose
CommentaryRobotics
Former NASA Robotics Chief: America is building the wrong kind of robots — and China knows it
By Robert AmbroseMay 23, 2026
4 hours ago
Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO filing just told us what business he’s betting on for the future—and it’s not rockets
InvestingFinance
Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO filing just told us what business he’s betting on for the future—and it’s not rockets
By Shawn TullyMay 23, 2026
5 hours ago
morris
CommentaryEntrepreneurship
My startup hit $200 million ARR. But first I walked away from 2.5 million YouTube subscribers and nearly went bankrupt
By Joel MorrisMay 23, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Success
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
2 days ago
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
Success
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
By Preston ForeMay 20, 2026
3 days ago
Indeed chief economist says we’re entering an era of ‘great mismatch’ thanks to a generational imbalance of workers
Success
Indeed chief economist says we’re entering an era of ‘great mismatch’ thanks to a generational imbalance of workers
By Emma BurleighMay 22, 2026
21 hours ago
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
4 days ago
Microsoft reports are exposing AI's real cost problem: Using the tech is more expensive than paying human employees
AI
Microsoft reports are exposing AI's real cost problem: Using the tech is more expensive than paying human employees
By Jake AngeloMay 22, 2026
20 hours ago
Apple’s Steve Wozniak says he cofounded the tech giant after 5 rejections from HP—not to ‘make money.’ For years, his paycheck was just $50
Success
Apple’s Steve Wozniak says he cofounded the tech giant after 5 rejections from HP—not to ‘make money.’ For years, his paycheck was just $50
By Preston ForeMay 22, 2026
22 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.