{"id":384779,"date":"2021-12-23T00:48:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T21:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ceo-buddies-under-scrutiny-in-4b-zendesk-and-momentive-merger\/"},"modified":"2021-12-23T00:48:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T21:48:38","slug":"ceo-buddies-under-scrutiny-in-4b-zendesk-and-momentive-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ceo-buddies-under-scrutiny-in-4b-zendesk-and-momentive-merger\/","title":{"rendered":"#CEO buddies under scrutiny in $4B Zendesk and Momentive merger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#CEO buddies under scrutiny in $4B Zendesk and Momentive merger<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Could a selfie sink a $4 billion deal?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Angry shareholders are questioning whether an unpopular software merger amounts to a sweetheart deal between two CEO buddies \u2014 and they\u2019re pointing to a smiling selfie that the pair posted together on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>, On The Money has learned. <\/p>\n<p>Zendesk, a customer support software maker, said in October that it plans buy SurveyMonkey parent company Momentive in a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/software-services-firm-zendesk-buy-surveymonkey-parent-nearly-4-bln-2021-10-28\/\">$4 billion all-stock deal<\/a>. The move baffled some analysts, who argued that it doesn\u2019t make sense for Zendesk \u2014 which is bigger than Momentive and growing at a faster rate \u2014 to absorb a smaller, slower firm.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as shareholder votes on the acquisition <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach in early 2022, some shareholders are crying foul over a personal friendship between the CEOs of Zendesk and Momentive that they say has created a conflict of interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Just after the deal was announced in October, Zendesk co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane posted a little-noticed photo smiling of himself alongside Momentive CEO Zander Lurie on Twitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig thank you to @zlurie for being an outstanding CEO of Momentive,\u201d wrote Svane. \u201cAn inspiring leader. A gentleman. And most of all a good friend over the last 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He finished the tweet with a kissing emoji. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-wrapper twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Big thank you to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zlurie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@zlurie<\/a> for being an outstanding CEO of Momentive. An inspiring leader. A gentleman. And most of all a good friend over the last 18 months. Kudos to you and your leadership team \ud83d\ude18 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yc20Zq718T\">pic.twitter.com\/yc20Zq718T<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mikkel Svane (@mikkelsvane) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikkelsvane\/status\/1453858450077675520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 28, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The duo also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zlurie\/status\/1433176700074926082?s=20\">co-hosted a benefit art show in San Francisco<\/a> alongside other Silicon Valley honchos including Carl Bass, lead director of the Zendesk board, in September \u2014 nearly two months before Zendesk\u2019s deal to acquire Momentive was announced.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, some steaming shareholders have even speculated that the selfie \u2014 which shows a picturesque range of hills covered with fir trees in the background \u2014 may have been taken at Bass\u2019s Lake Tahoe home.<\/p>\n<p>Activist investor Legion Partners, which owns about 1.4 percent of Momentive, slammed Svane and Lurie\u2019s friendship in a scathing investor letter last week that included a link to the pair\u2019s selfie. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLurie and Svane have a very public and close relationship as disclosed on Mr. Svane\u2019s\u00a0Twitter account\u00a0\u2013 what should have been an obvious and clear conflict was seemingly overlooked by a Board that appears to value its relationship with fellow Silicon Valley insiders over the stockholders they purportedly represent,\u201d Legion Partners wrote.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Zendesk\" class=\"wp-image-20585110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Zendesk stock fell a whopping 16 percent after plans to acquire Momentive were announced. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Investment manager Jana Partners, a big Zendesk investor led by hard-charging shareholder activist Barry Rosenstein, is also raising hackles over the executives\u2019 friendship and calling for the deal to be scrapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas this motivated by the Zendesk CEO\u2019s personal friendship with the CEO of Momentive?\u201d wrote Jana Partners in a scathing November\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.janapartners.com\/zendesk\">letter<\/a>. \u201cOr is the board simply not sufficiently engaged to appropriately safeguard shareholder interests?\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Zendesk\u00a0and Momentive did not respond to requests for comment but have insisted publicly that they\u2019re going forward with the merger. <\/p>\n<p>On the day the deal was announced, shares of Zendesk fell a whopping 16 percent. At the same time, shares of Momentive \u2014 which counts Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and tennis superstar Serena Williams among its board members \u2014 also plummeted 9 percent. Shares of both companies have still not recovered to pre-announcement levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20585126\" width=\"618\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1233 1236w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=925 927w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=618 618w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=308 309w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\"\/><figcaption>Momentive owns SurveyMonkey. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If Legion, Jana and other disgruntled investors get their way, Zendesk and Momentive shareholders will vote down the merger when it comes up for a vote in the first few months of 2022 \u2014 or the companies will read the room and avoid bringing the merger up for a vote in the first place. <\/p>\n<p>The standoff comes months after activist shareholders nuked a proposed $15 billion buyout of a call center software firm Five9 by videoconferencing giant Zoom. The companies <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/investors.zoom.us\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/zoom-announces-termination-merger-agreement-five9\">announced the deal was off in September<\/a>, following an outcry from Five9 investors who pointed to Zoom\u2019s slowing post-pandemic growth prospects.\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/22\/ceo-buddies-under-scrutiny-in-4b-zendesk-and-momentive-merger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#CEO buddies under scrutiny in $4B Zendesk and Momentive merger&#8221; Could a selfie sink a $4 billion deal?\u00a0 Angry shareholders are questioning whether an unpopular software merger amounts to a sweetheart deal between two CEO buddies \u2014 and they\u2019re pointing to a smiling selfie that the pair posted together on Twitter, On The Money has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/zendesk-momentive-09.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[122360,77694,106544,89180,33355,70360],"class_list":["post-384779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-22-21","tag-activist-investors","tag-on-the-money","tag-sheryl-sandberg","tag-silicon-valley","tag-wall-street"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}