World News – United States – Businesses move to work from home

By Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Michael J. . de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni

According to DealBook, Salesforce reached out to Slack about a deal and confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal. A takeover could already be announced this week. The potential business is a bet on remote working, an area bankers say will be a hot spot for consolidation in the coming months as highly valued software companies seek to unravel the fragmented market for collaboration tools.

Labor practices may never return to pre-pandemic norms. At least this is the prerequisite for measures like those of Salesforce. Organizations hope to take advantage of the shift by putting together a range of services to make working remotely easier. Slack had a market cap of around $ 17 billion before news of the potential deal broke and is now worth around $ 23 billion. Until the recent Pop, the stock’s price had seen relatively subdued growth, possibly because its video conferencing tools lagged competitors like Zoom and Microsoft.

Who’s next? Many software companies are on the advance with rising share prices, are sitting on piles of money and can easily develop more capital if necessary. Alongside Salesforce, bankers say potential buyers include Adobe (which Workfront bought earlier this month), Twilio (who bought Segment and Sendgrid), and ServiceNow. Possible destinations are Airtable, Asana, Box, DocuSign, Dropbox, and Smartsheet. These deals won’t be cheap, but if buyers’ stocks rise in line with targets, it can simply mean more stock-for-stock deals.

Microsoft is the elephant in (virtual) space. The computer giant’s office software is already installed on most workstation computers, which simplifies the integration of the Slack-like tool for collaboration, teams. (Slack claims in antitrust proceedings against Microsoft in Europe that the bundling of teams with Office is anti-competitive. ) Microsoft had been acquiring throughout the pandemic, trying to track down TikTok, and announcing a deal to buy game maker Zenimax Media. It may face more government scrutiny than its competitors, but it can certainly afford a lot more purchases. It has around $ 136 billion in cash and is one of the few companies with an AAA rating.

S&P Global agrees to purchase IHS Markit. The transaction, valued at approximately $ 44 billion, will bring together two of the world’s largest financial data providers. This is the latest move to unlock the value of data after the London Stock Exchange offered $ 27 billion for analytics firm Refinitiv and Intercontinental Exchange bought Ellie Mae and others $ 11 billion.

New York City will reopen public elementary schools. The abrupt reversal came after Mayor Bill de Blasio was criticized for closing the country’s largest school system while keeping businesses such as restaurants open indoors. Middle and high schools remain closed.

The E. . U. . plans to ask the U.. S.. . to form an alliance to stand up to China. The bloc will urge America to remove trade and global tax disparities in order to create a unified approach to regulations and the World Health Organization overhaul, the Financial Times reports.

Nike and Coke are campaigning against a bill that would ban imports from China’s Xianjiang region. They are among several large companies pushing to weaken legislation banning goods made by forced labor by persecuted Muslim minorities in the area. Opponents of the law say they oppose human rights violations but also fear disrupted supply chains.

Robert Smith’s longtime business partner is stepping down. Brian Sheth, the president and co-founder of Vista Equity Partners, announced a month after Mr.. . Smith agreed to pay $ 140 million to settle a federal investigation into a tax evasion system.

President-elect Joe Biden will be naming more of his economic team this week, and his likely decisions imply the continuation of two themes: a focus on progressive labor economics and decisions that could upset his party’s left wing.

Cecilia Rouse, the Princeton economist, is expected to lead the Board of Economic Advisers, with Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey also on the group. The work-oriented economists – along with Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary – propose a « strong focus on worker empowerment as a tool for economic growth, » writes The Times’ Alan Rappeport.

Other tips may be more controversial. Mr. Biden has elected Brian Deese, who led the Obama administration’s auto rescue package and advised on climate change, to chair the National Economic Council. He has also selected Adewale Adeyemo, who helped negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as deputy finance minister.

They both spent time at investment giant BlackRock, which may make them problematic for progressives who like Mr.. . Biden to avoid picks from the corporate world. Such connections could make it « less likely that the federal government will curb BlackRock as it should, » Jeff Hauser of the Revolving Door Project told Politico.

And then there is Neera Tanden. Mrs. Tanden, the head of the Center for American Progress, the left-wing think tank, is Mr.. . Biden’s decision to head the White House administration and housekeeping bureau. Conservatives and progressives are wary of women. Tanden, who is close to Hillary Clinton. A former adjutant to Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, suggested that she could be a « sacrifice to the Confirmation Gods, » meaning that she could be set up to endure the heat while other candidates pass through the Senate.

According to Adobe Analytics, American consumers spent $ 9 billion with online retailers on Friday. That was almost 22 percent more than on Black Friday last year, due to shoppers staying away from shopping malls and large stores for health reasons. In fact, Facteus, a research company that monitors card payments, saw a large gap between online and offline sales activity on Black Friday, which was particularly large among department stores and electronics retailers. No wonder that Amazon is 1 every day this year. Has hired 400 new employees.

Today is the U. . S.. . The Supreme Court is considering arguments about President Trump’s order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census used for the allocation of house seats. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case in which former child slaves in Ivory Coast have sued Nestlé for alleged human rights abuses on cocoa farms.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Chairman Jay Powell will testify to Congress on … pandemic stimulus programs after disagreeing on how funds will be used for pandemic stimulus programs. They appear in the Senate on Tuesday and in the House on Wednesday.

Tech companies are on deck to make a profit. Zoom reports today, Box and Salesforce on Tuesday and Snowflake on Wednesday.

The U. . S.. . The employment report due on Friday is expected to show that by November 500. 000 new jobs were created, fewer than the 638 created in October. 000. This is a possible sign that the resurgence of coronavirus cases is slowing economic recovery.

Friday is also the last deadline set by the U.. S.. . Government for TikTok to sell to Oracle and Walmart. The date has already been postponed twice.

Tony Hsieh, the 46-year-old entrepreneur and venture capitalist who turned online shoe retailer Zappos into a billion dollar business, died Friday of a house fire. He stepped down as Managing Director of Zappos in August after running the company after more than two decades on a mission to “create fun and a little weirdness. ”

He was obsessed with corporate culture. Shortly thereafter, Amazon bought Zappos for $ 1. 2 billion in 2009, mr. Hsieh documented the challenges of the growing company. He complained that « not so many employees from different departments hang out during the company’s happy hours ». So Zappos began tracking the “number and strength” of cross-departmental relationships in order to cultivate more friendships among employees. Paying attention to the little things that make relationships thrive has been key to being successful in business, Mr.. . Hsieh believed.

He hoped to spark a management revolution. In 2010 he wrote a bestselling book on the philosophy of Zappos which he called « Delivering Happiness ». He said prioritizing employee and customer satisfaction is worth the cost. Zappos later adopted Holacracy, a radical approach to governance that did away with titles and hierarchies in order to free employees, improve processes, and meet customer needs.

He also bet on the physical world, trying to revive a rundown area in downtown Las Vegas. Hoping Zappos’ presence would transform the area, he invested $ 350 million in local real estate and redevelopment. « A lot of companies talk about work-life balance, » he said. « We are more about work-life integration. ”

He realized that not everyone shared his intensity. Zappos became known for a fascinating new hiring offer: it offered some workers up to 1. $ 000 if they wanted to go. Mr. Hsieh found that whoever accepted the offer had not been fully committed to the company’s mission.

His death is being investigated. Recordings of first responders in New London, Conn. where the fire took place referred to a man who was « trapped » or « barricaded » in a burning house, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The planned I of the Ant Group. P. . Ö. According to Chinese authorities, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that this will be postponed for next year. (Bloomberg)

Perella Weinberg Partners is close to going public by partnering with a blank check company led by banking entrepreneur Betsy Cohen. (FT)

Compass, the retail broker backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to advise on an I.. P. . Ö. that could take place next year. (Bloomberg)

Environmental Protection Agency employees are rebelling against the latest surge of deregulation from the Trump administration. (NYT)

The White House is reportedly planning to blacklist semiconductor maker SMIC and oil and gas producer CNOOC on a blacklist of Chinese companies with alleged military ties. (Reuters)

A closer look at Newsmax, the media company that drives President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of a stolen election – even if its founder doesn’t believe them. (NYT)

The price of Bitcoin collapsed when the C. . E.. . Ö. Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong tweeted rumors of rushed new cryptocurrency regulations. (CoinDesk)

Salesforce, Slack Technologies, Inventory, Customer Relationship Management, Cloud Computing