Salesfore Enters Data Analytics Visualization Market with $15B Tableau Acquisition

Salesforce’s Largest Deal to Date

As reported by Bloomberg, the takeover will mark Salesforce’s largest deal to date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Co-Chief Executive Officers Marc Benioff and Keith Block have been chasing new markets to reach an annual revenue goal of as much as $28 billion by fiscal 2023.

Benioff has helped Salesforce increase revenue at a rapid clip by acquiring more than 60 companies in 20 years.

“We are bringing together the world’s #1 CRM with the #1 analytics platform. Tableau helps people see and understand data, and Salesforce helps people engage and understand customers. It’s truly the best of both worlds for our customers—bringing together two critical platforms that every customer needs to understand their world.”

The deal, if approved, would be “absolutely transformative” for Salesforce, Wedbush Securities analyst Steve Koenig said.

The acquisition further intensifies the ongoing Salesforce rivalry with Microsoft Corp., Koenig observed.

“This adds more urgency for public cloud vendors to lead the analytics market into a new era,” Koenig said.

Adam Selipsky. President & Ceo, Tableau Software - Company Announcement

In 2003, Tableau set out to pioneer self-service analytics with an intuitive analytics platform that would empower people of any skill level to work with data. Our customers grew with us to form the strongest analytics community in the world. And today, that mission to help people see and understand data grows stronger.

I’m excited to announce that Tableau has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Salesforce in an acquisition that combines the #1 CRM with the #1 analytics platform.

By joining forces we will accelerate our ability to accomplish our mission. Together, Salesforce and Tableau share a deep commitment to empowering their respective communities and enabling people of every skill level to transform their businesses, their careers, and their lives through technology.

I’d like to share the email I sent to our incredible Tableau team to usher in this new chapter in our history.

One of the most amazing aspects of Tableau is how focused the company is on its mission - helping people see and understand data. It is so inspiring to see thousands of Tabloids making this vision a reality daily.

Today we are embarking on a new chapter that will dramatically accelerate our ability to achieve that mission. We are incredibly excited to announce that we have entered into a definitive deal for Tableau to be acquired by Salesforce in one of the most historic combinations in the history of the software industry.

As you well know, we are a special company with incredible customers who are doing amazing things with our products. In a short 16 years, we have gone from a start-up in a bedroom to a billion dollar public company.

“We are a special company with incredible customers who are doing amazing things with our products”Adam Selipsky, President & CEO, Tableau Software

We have been able to serve millions of people in more than 86,000 organizations around the world. We have been heads down building and delivering the analytics capabilities that are so critical to all of those customers. And with a bright future ahead of us, as we’ve powered through the subscription transition, built an enterprise business, and strengthened so many parts of the company. However, it was precisely because of our many strengths and momentum that we were attractive to Salesforce.

As our two companies began joint discussions, the possibilities of what we might do together became more and more intriguing. They have leading capabilities across many CRM areas including sales, marketing, service, application integration, AI for analytics and more. They have a vast number of field personnel selling to and servicing customers. They have incredible reach into the fabric of so many customers, all of whom need rich analytics capabilities and visual interfaces. They have a leading brand and generate huge awareness through massive events such as Dreamforce. They have a passionate and engaged global community called Trailblazers.

On behalf of our customers, we began to dream about we might accomplish if we could combine our ability to help people see and understand data with their ability to help people engage and understand customers.

In addition, we were quickly struck by the cultural similarities between the companies. A desire to change the world through data and digital transformation. A customer-centered view of the world. A focus on empowered employees. And a dedication to service and giving back to our local and global communities by bringing all of our corporate resources to bear.

For all of the reasons above, our founders, Board of Directors, and management team all came to believe that the best way, the most exciting way forward for Tableau, was to join forces with Salesforce. We all believe that the growth potential is enormous and that customers will love what we can bring them together. We also think that there will be a ton of interesting and fun opportunities for our teams and employees, as we figure out how to make the best use of all of the new tools in our toolboxes.

Our mission remains the same. We have much work left to do to help people see and understand data – and to make the world a better place in the process. Now we will be able to dramatically accelerate our ability to pursue that mission and become the defining company that ushers in the era of analytics ubiquity: Accelerated Ubiquity! I am more excited than ever about the adventure ahead and hope all of you will be too.

Onward,

Adam Selipsky, President & CEO, Tableau Software

Press Release: Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Tableau

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