Elliott Nominates Salesforce Directors Building Pressure to Boost Profit

Elliott Investment Management has nominated directors to the board of Salesforce Inc. as the software giant faces pressure to boost profit.

(Bloomberg) — Elliott Investment Management has nominated directors to the board of Salesforce Inc. as the software giant faces pressure to boost profit.

The nominations happened in the last few weeks, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The nomination window opened Feb. 12 and will close March 14. The number of directors nominated couldn’t immediately be established.

Pressure has been mounting on Salesforce Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff to boost profits after a half-decade of fast hiring and large acquisitions. Elliott, whose multibillion-dollar stake in the company became public in January, is one of at least five activist investors in the stock.

When Salesforce reports earnings Wednesday afternoon, investors will be looking for clues about how far management is willing to go to cut costs and satisfy the demands coming from activist investors. It’s been a tumultuous few months for the software firm — it has swapped board directors, axed 8,000 workers and lost numerous top executives. That includes Bret Taylor, who was thought to be the heir-apparent to Benioff. Many analysts expect these disruptions to weigh on revenue and employee morale in the near term.

CNBC reported the nominations earlier. Spokespeople for Salesforce and Elliott declined to comment.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com