Tencent Reviews Marvelous Stake as Gaming Giant Reassesses Global Investment Strategy 
Kioxia Targets U.S. Listing as AI Chip Boom Accelerates 
Australia Inflation Cools in May, But Core CPI Keeps RBA Rate Hike Risks Alive 
Bain Capital Nears Deal for Majority Stake in Volkswagen Marine Engine Unit Everllence 
Trump Requests $11 Billion More in Farm Aid as Rising Costs Pressure U.S. Farmers 
Micron Stock Surges on Strong AI Demand, Record Revenue, and Bullish Q4 Forecast 
Trump Orders DOJ Investigation Into Exxon, Chevron Over High Gas Prices 
Nissan Halts Electric Qashqai Development Amid EV Market Challenges 
Nike CFO Shake-Up Fuels Concerns Over Turnaround Strategy 
Oil Prices Slip as Iran Sanctions Relief and Hormuz Shipping Recovery Ease Supply Concerns 
Fortescue Faces Class Action Over Sexual Harassment Claims at Australian Mining Sites 
Bayer Wins Major U.S. Supreme Court Roundup Lawsuit, Shares Surge 
OpenAI May Delay IPO to 2027 Amid $1 Trillion Valuation Goal 
US Dollar Slips After PCE Inflation Data Eases Fed Rate Hike Expectations 
Gold Falls Below $4,000 as Strong Dollar and Fed Rate Hike Expectations Weigh on Prices 
White House Seeks $87.6 Billion Emergency Funding for Iran War, Farmers, and Ebola Response 
Tesla and NatPower Partner on $5 Billion Battery Storage Expansion in Europe 
Salesforce Inc., an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California, announced on Friday, Jan. 27, that it has appointed three new independent board directors. It was noted that the designation took place amid the building pressure from activist investors.
As per Reuters, Salesforce added Mason Morfit, the chief executive officer of ValueAct Capital hedge fund; Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Corp.; and Sachin Mehra, finance chief of Mastercard, to its board. They will be joining the company on March 1 as two directors are set to leave.
It was reported that this move of appointing new directors had been in the planning for a long time now. A source who is familiar with the matter said that this is because Robin Washington, the lead independent director, has been maneuvering the process to put more focus on operational skills.
“We are excited to welcome Arnold, Sachin, and Mason to the Salesforce Board. As highly respected business leaders, they each bring valuable experience to further enhance and balance the diverse skills on the Board and advance our value-creation initiatives,” Salesforce’s chairman and chief executive officer, Marc Benioff, said in a press release. “We look forward to benefiting from their expertise and insights as Salesforce continues to drive durable top and bottom line growth and build on our position as the world’s #1 CRM.”
In any case, the company is currently facing pressure from four activist investors, including Elliott Management which is the biggest among them. This investment firm is said to be preparing to challenge the board next month. This comes as a number of activist investors are pushing some companies to include a shareholder on the board so there will be some who can represent the views of investors.
Meanwhile, as new members arrive, Salesforce directors Sanford Robertson and Alan Hassenfeld are set to leave. They have decided not to stand for re-election after almost 10 years on the board.
Photo by: Medullaoblongata Projekt/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
