>> first and foremost, this is a test of some of the star power i've talked about marc benioff havingre laughed at it, i talked about him having a big orbit just the ability to bring attention to himself and bring attention to the company his ability to work with some of these different activist investors is going to be a key part of this they settled very quickly with valueact a former microsoft board member, former adobe board member, now on the board how do other activist investors feel about that? i spoke to analysts in pe, a lot believe mason is a value add in this situation it remains to be seen, though. >> we're looking at a chart of crm up 30% year to date. is it possible some activists bowed out, made money in the trade and gone away? to jon's point, activists like to dictate terms and build up positions so they can make their aims known that seems really, really tough with so many in the room, plus benioff, as you say. >> that's a big question we won't really know until it's time for different activist investors to nominate their directors. one thing that has changed is the

marc benioff, not a clown. >> how did the call with peltz ring with burbank right now?> bob left and i tried calling him. i didn't get him i would love to bring him back i'm sure he's smiling. it makes perfect sense it makes perfect sense in many ways jim has been saying this nelson peltz got a lot of what he was looking for he's an empty chair unfortunately. maybe get bob back and see i don't know that we'll be able to catch up with him you know, you've been saying this, jim. he got a lot of what he wanted including most importantly, i said this earlier, the stock price going up so much there you are. i think just you kind of something that you almost expect but rarely happens, you know jim, rarely happens. so i'm sure relief, frankly. as much as mr. iger may say this is the board we love, and i'm not distracted, it's a distraction. there is no doubt about it as we, of course, saw, there's plenty on his plate. >> yes but it would have been -- nelson was gracious when i listened to bob, i think he must have felt that nelson is not going to stop no matter what, but i det

want to be optimistic about the world, lots of smart people bought it because it was a cheap and marc benioffn enduring founder and created on of the best businesses in the world. however, sometimes founders can, you know, have one unique skill set that is their strength to build these companies, but often that strength can be a weakness at times as a manager. >> you any the presence of the activists is a plus for you in your -- >> i think for all investors, whether it's the activists who are there, the reality, i think positive rate of change is going to occur at salesforce, and the market gets that and forget who gets credit or how or why it happens, you know, i said you're only going to make 20% on the stock if it's free cash flow growth at 20% a year there are very few companies that have that salesforce with so much self-help has the ability to do that, and they can take a business that can grow revenue at 10% or 15% a year and turn it into five years with an amazing business the market gave you a one-off opportunity, and my bet owning the stock is i think marc benioff is aligned with me

. >> i want to go back i think mark is -- marc benioff is going to stay, and i think there's going totill more board activists. i don't think -- i think that activists have realized if you push marc too much and make it so his life is miserable, then you have a company that's not going to make as much money when things get better. i think that people -- david, you may disagree -- marc benioff's record is extraordinary in terms of growth and profits and it has a bump in the road i think marc is here for ten years. >> really? >> yeah. >> okay. >> sure hope so. >> stock down, we'll see. >> that sends the stock down >> what about the earnings tomorrow >> he fired a -- the companies that have fired a lot of people and done buybacks have tended to do well, but if you even guide down by 1%, al la workday you have a stock that under performance because the market is -- i'm sorry, because workday shouldn't -- 19 to 18 is a desell i think salesforce is good because marc stays good. >> meanwhile cvx tonight. >> chevron and micron will tell a great story. enbridge is bringing out a lot of oil fro

they want to hear mark zuckerberg's words come out of marc benioff's mouth they want marc to talk abouty i don't know, david, if he's going to give them efficiency. >> well, that's interesting. why? what do you think benioff is going to give them there is a playbook to be followed here in terms of getting your stock price up, and we know mr. benioff is under pressure from -- you don't even have enough time to list all the activists, but elliott being the main one right now why won't he go that route >> well, because i think he's going to say, i've done it before i've announced the big head count cuts i've announced the buyback i've done the zuckerberg playbook, but i don't think it's enough safe for elliott. i think that an activist like elliott wants to see a new board. i think that they think that it can't be business as usual and it's not done, david, and i know you're hearing from people -- >> well, i reported that the other day. >> the activists are not happy yet. >> i mean, i did that -- that was the faber report two or three days ago when we were here i think you're right >> well

where i know some of the large activist hedge funds are not appeased by the recent board changes marc benioff and let him work his magic. i know the patience is worn thin among the audience my ultimate take away is there are plenty of people that want to make fortunes in individual stocks or have already done so even though people tell them that they can. so many financial experts will tell you it's impossible to make money in individual stocks they want your money and funds and don't feel compelled to tell you what you're doing wrong. these investors despise that attitude they bride off the notion they can't manage their own money when they're been doing it successfully for years that's not eye opening that is core to what we do at the club however, it's always nice to have hundreds of people tell you to keep doing it because it's working for them and that's exactly what i'm going to continue to do i like to say there is always a bull market somewhere and i promise to find it here on "mad money. i'm jim cramer see ya tomorrow. most successful consumer products joins the tank. robert knows te

did benioff do a -- salesforce is indeed a public company and what shareholders say matters. i don't know how this one's going to turn out i do think marcrs as he did when he called off his twitter takeover bid. but if i were working at these activist firms i'd be worried about antagonizing benioff to the point he retires as much as he loves the company i don't think he needs to work for a living and his departure would be i huge loss he's made this company great he's brought in the biggest customers. but all that matters now i guess is what have you done for me lately then again, maybe i've become too nice a guy i like to say there's always a bull market somewhere and i promise to try to find it just for you right here on "mad money. i'm jim cramer see you tomorrow of skims, returns to the tank. i really understand direct to consumer, and i can really help you unlock that. honestly, we're like, this deserves to exist in the world. oy-yoy-yoy. are you insane? what?! this deal for us is about chasing the american dream. i need help -- like, i can't sustain this. yadda-yadda-yadda, woof-woof-woof. i don't care. typical guy. [ laughter ] ♪

singer will do well together if i were marc benioff i would sit back and let the sharks feed on themselves. >> what do you want to see happen here? they've done a lot of acquisitions a reason the stock was down a lot. let's not act like everything was cozy and rosy and the activists showed up. >> here is the point i would make on this we talked about cisco yesterday and cisco has been saying that enterprise spending is doing great. so what the heck is going on with sales force here that has not been showing the same signs? i think the activists may be putting those two companies next to each other, not publicly but saying what's going on at salesforce why can't you grow at the rate you were growing the product that sales force delivers is fantastic. i think the slowdown we've seen the past couple of quarters is temporary in nature. it is probably some companies pulling back in anticipation of the recession that as we've been dis discussing may not even occur. >> you sold it in december, right? why? >> more of a tax loss harvesting i wasn't sure the direction. i like the activactivism i thi

strive capital management sending a letter to marc benioff.der reportedly writing we seek to deliver a simple message, stop using your business as a platform for social change and focus on serving your customers alone this is strive it's a pile on it's not going after salesforce's actual margins and everything else. benioff likes to use business as a platform for positive change this is just a cheap shot. >> we'll see what we can tomorrow to wapner and "the half. >>> carl, thank you very much. welcome to "the halftime report." i'm scott wapner the final day of a down month for stocks and now big questions about what march might bring we'll debate and discuss with the investment committee joining me for the hour today josh brown, stephanie link, jim lebenthal, kerry firestone the final day of what has been a down month and we're mixed now the dow down 170 there's the s&p down a couple

this will sound surprising but i know my partner david favor and i have been talking about it marc benioff will get back to business and they can stop bothering him? i'm not sure how salesforce business is doing to determine how the stock does that day. the stock trades like a nightmare, though. we have a small position in the charitable trust i wish we owned more he can deliver that doesn't mean that the stock is going to rally when we see the number all right. let's not bury the lead. we should have started with it right here wednesday belongs to elon musk when tesla holds an investor meeting. most of these affairs are quite dry. you think this one will be it will be wild. you can't gain real surprise, not talking about a faux self-generated surprises but genuine shockers i think musk can take aim at his competitors who simply isn't been able to challenge him yet the latest being lucid that reported hideous numbers one look at the stocks tells us these small electric vehicle plays can't keep up and i hope ford fixing the battery in the f-150 lightning before the time tesla speaks or musk

. >> reporter: kelly lee part is a scientist with whalesafe, which is funded by marc benioff. data from its buoys, satellites, and entries on a whale watching app to predict the presence of whales in shipping lanes, warning the companies in near real time so they can voluntarily slow down to 10 knots, a speed set by a federal agency shown to significantly reduce the risk of fatal collisions. >> there was a study done a few years ago that estimated that 80 endangered blue fin and humpback whales are killed on the u.s. west coast every year. >> by ships? >> by ships. >> reporter: recent years have seen record west coast whale deaths with a notable exception of 2020, when the pandemic all but stopped international shipping. scientists say most ship strike deaths go undetected because the whales sink to the bottom of the ocean. there was outrage last year when a beloved 49-foot whale washed up onshore south of san francisco. spotted hundreds of times during her life, scientists even gave her a name -- fran. she was found with extensive bruising and a broken neck, injuries consiste

i know we're going to get to union pacific, but marc benioff built that company, and for these peopleo come in and say, he's underperformed when you look at it since it was $8, and you say to yourself, well, is it really a what have you done late for me story at salesforce can't you just move on to something else but they're all gunning for him. >> we're going to dive into unp after the break. >> yes. >>> we want to get to buffett, though long weekend of reflection on the results, his calls for patience, his cash load. is the buyback the biggest story out of the quarter the comments about buybacks? >> i think it is, because it's so incendiary. there's some great quotes from munger, things that you could learn from him when you look at his holdings, he's been known to do this on "mad money," spends a lot of time talking about how american express and coca-cola are winners because they buy back stock, because of the dividends, but the actual portfolio, occident occidental petroleum, spends a lot of time talking about, don't look at my operating look at what i've done with these companie

when you get succession planning, some sort of a road here that says, marc benioff, obviously, the much-lovedsort of agree to some sort of plan under which a new ceo would take over? are there going to be seats? all the questions you might, of course, involving a potential settlement there, but wanted to get on the record in case we get one that's called on the earlier part of next week. timing on these things, difficult, but it does seem they are moving towards that, rather than an all-out proxy fight, which, interestingly, my read a few weeks ago, was sort of, that seemed the more likely outcome here >> and is that largely because the company seems more amenable to whatever would have been achieved through a proxy fight >> i think they don't want to fight. i think benioff is a lover, not a fighter. >> that was jim's point a few weeks ago. >> right it has been. >> that there would be some meeting of minds with crm. >> we'll see but i certainly am hearing it enough that i thought it was worth sharing at this point, and we'll stay tuned next week it's been an unusual situation, to say the leas

marc benioff talks to the "new york times" and says i wish i offered lifetime employment but when you 80,000 employees there are going to be times when you have to make a head count adjustment bofa did cut numbers on channel checks, lumpiness of the quarters and share shift going on in enterprise software. >> sure. i mean it's, obviously, true that crm has done a lot of acquisitions over the years and expansions and a growth, growth, growth story by the way, what the activists are saying right now is -- was like, the short thesis of like 12 years ago that didn't work because the stock kept growing and kept doing well. but now they're at a point where they feel like there has to be a recping on costs, what do we do with rolling up these companies and other agendas as well. >> yeah. you can look at the long term and what's happened but you can see there has been a move up baseline enthusiasm amongst investors that these activists will be able to force the company to focus more on profitability and perhaps on succession as well you know, i pointed out the deadline or i should say the nom

. >>> coming up after the break, third point is the fifth known activist with a stake in marc ben benioff's salesforce. >>> shares of affirm down after results last night the guidance, the cost utting, the head count reduction we'll trade that stock when "techcheck" is back in a minute. [drone speaking] technology lets drones deliver pizza. no,no,no! have a nice day. but to deliver powerful insights that are on target you need more than technology. you need cdw. we can help transform and manage your it environment with a dell technology solution, so you can use your data to innovate. wooh pizza is here! i'm still gonna eat it. me too. tip please. dell technologies makes data driven insights possible. cdw makes it powerful. [office sounds] ♪upbeat music♪ ♪♪ ♪when the day that lies ahead of me♪ ♪♪ ♪seems impossible to face♪ ♪a lovely day (lovely day)♪ ♪(lovely day) (lovely day)♪ ♪(lovely day)♪ a bank that knows your business grows your business. bmo. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly d

a number of them calling for marc benioff to tighten things up from an efficiency perspective and likelyhink right now they're about 71,000 people. that's down from 80,000 people however, prepandemic, i think the employment picture was closer to 50,000 people. so if in fact you were trying to get your employment picture to look like a prepandemic number, that would be a lot of people who would be losing their jobs >>> coming up, jim cramer's first take on the trading day ahead. take a look at futures right now, dow up 230 points nasdaq up 160 points s&p 500 up 33 points bob iger is going to be coming up on "squawk on the street" and a reminder that you can get the best of "squawk box" in our daily podcast. you can follow squawk pod on your favorite app and listen any time we're coming right back. ♪ looking for something like this? super heroes are everywhere. in our movies, communities, and running our small businesses. and they can grow online securely with mastercard tools, extending their reach far beyond the storefront. because when you see the super hero you can be, that's priceless

if marc benioff paid for "time" magazine, it is hard to argue it is still worth that.will get through washington. >> separately your colleague ben, ben, who is also the co-founder of the place, semafor that is, made an argument he thinks the whole billionaire class of jeff bezoses, and the benioffs and everybody in media land doesn't -- they want to get out of media land. do you think that's true >> i think -- that piece was very important, you have to look at -- i think bezos has been probably pretty happy with his experience at "the post. a little internally rocky, but clearly his ownership is pretty good for that institution. yeah, i don't know i think there is less value, media landscape is itself fractured. if your whole goal is to come in, buy the institution of record, there are one of those in print, maybe two, one in every medium, but just doesn't get you the influence it used to. >> except for "squawk box." >> except for "squawk box." >> there you have it liz hoffman, thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> appreciate it have a good weekend. >>> when we com

benioff? but the quarter, jim, those who look at the fundamentals here are not expecting it to be a particularly good one. >> look, it's enterprise software there's a slowdown worldwide marcs. a lot of their work is done to try to drum up subscriptions, you know, to -- but a plot of it also is just the traditional bank of america trying to get more customers, home depot trying to get more customers, so, yes, i'm going to say it's probably not going to be a good quarter. it's a bad quarter >> yeah, jim, sales and marketing teams are getting cut, right? sales and marketing teams are getting cut. the people who hire salesforce may not be doing it as often that's at least the thesis >> that's the weakness of the economy. people are saying, listen, the consumer's -- that's why i thought january being better was good people aren't spending and it's concentrated this is where you cut your spending not that you and i would think this is the right thing to do. you cut your spending on marketing and advertising, and salesforce is in that silo this is the product you take when everyone else is cutting back that said, recession's a terrible thing to waste. but most people cut. and th