Salesforce CEO Urges Extra Scrutiny of Microsoft's Acquisition of LinkedIn
October 26 2016 - 4:13PM
Dow Jones News
By Don Clark
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- Salesforce.com Inc. Chief Executive Marc
Benioff said rival Microsoft Corp.'s $26.2 billion acquisition of
LinkedIn Inc. should face additional scrutiny by regulators because
of its size.
"When you're the largest software company in the world, when
you're Microsoft, you need to be treated differently," Mr. Benioff
said Wednesday at the WSJDLive conference in Laguna Beach,
Calif.
Mr. Benioff lost a bidding war for LinkedIn to Microsoft earlier
this year. On Wednesday, he called into question the concentration
of data in Microsoft's hands if the deal passes.
European regulators have focused on how companies are "using
data as a competitive advantage against other companies," he
said.
The European Union is currently reviewing the deal. It set an
initial deadline of Nov. 22, but that can be extended, especially
if the regulator has concerns about the deal. Microsoft aims to
close the transaction by the end of the year.
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2016 15:58 ET (19:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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