Report: Microsoft Considering Salesforce Acquisition

An anonymous reader writes: Bloomberg reports that Microsoft is considering making a bid for CRM and cloud software company Salesforce, after hearing that Salesforce was entertaining an offer from another company. No talks are underway, but Salesforce has started working with investment banks to figure out how it wants to respond to such offers. Salesforce has a market value of about $50 billion, so any sort of acquisition would be a huge business deal.

Comments

From what I know of SalesForce, it's a perfect fit

[Frosty Piss]

I really have to say, it's right up Microsoft's alley. From what I know of SalesForce, it's a perfect fit.

Re:$50 billion is not Huge, anymore

[rsilvergun]

That's mostly because we've cut taxes on corps so much that they've got more cash than they know what to do with. I miss the 90% tax bracket. It kept corporate power in check and made them think about where they were investing their money. Now they can just casually toss $50 billion here and there and it's no skin off anyone's back.

You're right it's a myth

[rsilvergun]

it was 90% after the first $2 million, and that was in 1960. Adjusted for inflation that's something like $14 million today.

It was never really a tax per se. It was a check on out of control wealth concentration and the scary, scary power that comes with it. Plus it had the added bonus of encouraging real investment because hey, it was use it or lose it when it came to money. Now the rich can sit on a Scrooge McDuck style cash horde. But unlike the cartoon there are real consequences to that. Our economy grinds to a halt because all our capital is tied up in excesses like private jets & Mergers and acquisitions. No real value is added.

I saw the best quote ever in a news story a few weeks ago (I'm paraphrasing here): Finance is no longer a tool for getting money into productive businesses but for getting it out.

This is confusing to me...

[ckatko]

This is confusing to me. My job is literally installing Dynamics software for people. (Disclaimer: If you're offered that job, consider suicide as a better career path.)

Microsoft has put tons of money into their enterprise products. They're absolute piss and crash after a fresh install, but the work is still there. What good would acquiring Salesforce be for Microsoft? The only thing I can think of is that their software sucks so bad, they're going to eliminate their competitors by buying them. Because taking one gigantic, bloated, aging set of codebases (which have trouble even talking to each other!), and buying someone else's gigantic bloating, aging set of codebases, and finding some way to merge them into something new... that seems insane.

Money talks

[Taco Cowboy]

For a while, Salesforce seemed to be heading toward adopting PostgreSQL (e.g. they hired Tom Lane). Would have been great to see some open source goodness in the CRM space. But alas, it may not come to pass

The numero uno thing in all corporations is $$$, for without it, nothing else makes sense
 
For the bean counters, money is worth so much more than open source, so it should not surprise anyone of the imminent outcome

Re:$50 billion is not Huge, anymore

[rtb61]

Paying taxes is about paying for the revenue opportunities those countries create. Don't want to pay the taxes, 'THEN FUCK OFF', you are not entitled to the revenue opportunities those countries create. Want to generate revenue in the 'HIGH VALUE' markets, then pay taxes in those markets where the revenue is generated and do not steal infrastructure, a customer base with money or the social services of that customer base. Countries need to start killing of companies that steal access to markets without paying, corporate deaths sentences with asset seizure. That corporate tax greed is depriving citizens of social services that ensure health and well being. Corporate greed is killing a percentage of the population every year, it is time to hold them accountable for those deaths, when they cheat on taxes that pay for those social services.

Want out, fine, 'FUCK OFF' but don't expect access to that market any more. Sell your shit to third world sweat shop workers, good luck with that.

Re:$50 billion is not Huge, anymore

[s.petry]

No, it is not a myth at all. Tax forms are public information and you can review them from the very first tax form. Up until Nixon it was not uncommon for people to pay 90% tax. Average wages may have been around 20K/yr at the time, and if you made a million a year you would still have 5 times the average salary. There were some fluctuations, and certain investments could be taken out of wages.. but not that many especially early in our income tax history.

Do yourself a favor, and actually do the work you claim other people failed to do before dishing out false information.