Last week, Salesforce reported a $2.17 billion annual gain from its investments in other tech companies. A few days later, the company’s venture arm extended its winning streak with another big exit.
In a boom time for large tech IPOs and software consolidation, Salesforce’s name is showing up everywhere. CEO Marc Benioff has proven that he’s not only a mega-dealmaker when it comes to buying high-priced cloud companies like Slack and Tableau, but has also turned Salesforce, with its hefty balance sheet, into a major force in Silicon Valley venture capital.
The latest windfall came on Wednesday, when cloud security vendor Okta said it’s acquiring smaller rival Auth0 for $6.5 billion, eight months after Salesforce Ventures led a $120 million investment at a $1.92 billion valuation. Salesforce more than tripled its money between July and March.
Source: CNBC
By Ari Levy
