Salesforce CEO says companies buy each other for the data, and the government isn't doing anything about it

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says US regulators didn't pay proper attention to Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn, which he sees as a grab for data, not an acquisition of a social network. Salesforce entered Microsoft’s territory when it acquired Quip, a word processing app, earlier in 2016. “Microsoft wants to maintain their monopoly, and doesn’t want innovation in that area,” said Benioff. “So they’re going to say, ‘Now we’re going to integrate all this LinkedIn stuff into Office, so why would you want Quip?’”

Benioff said he pressed the Federal Trade Commission to review Microsoft’s LinkedIn deal for potential antitrust violations, but the agency decided not to investigate. Benioff, of course, made his own play for LinkedIn but failed to reach a deal. The European Commission, however, is looking into it. In Oct, the antitrust authority at the European Commission sent questionnaires to Microsoft’s competitors as they review the merger. Benioff contends the acquisition is anticompetitive because Microsoft can hinder access to LinkedIn’s data, making it harder for competitors.