Salesforce Flexes Its Muscle In The Corporate Software Market
Salesforce’s acquisition talks with Slack are shaking up the corporate software landscape, raising exciting possibilities that test the strategy of market leader Microsoft. In 2016, Microsoft considered an $8 billion acquisition of Slack, but Bill Gates advised the company to focus on internal development, first by trying to improve Skype, and later by developing Teams. Previously, Microsoft tried unsuccessfully to acquire Salesforce for $55 billion in what would have been the largest acquisition in its history. Later, in 2016, Salesforce tried to acquire LinkedIn, but was pipped at the post by Microsoft, generating a complaint from the former for possible monopolistic behavior that was quickly dismissed. In July, Slack also reported Microsoft for monopolistic behavior, arguing that Microsoft could be forcing companies to install Teams as part of its Office package. Now, Salesforce is looking to buy Slack, whose share price has soared as a result of its widespread use during the pand