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Even though some of the largest shareholders in Salesforce.com have made it clear that they are against the deal, the company is still in talks to buy Twitter, according to two people involved in the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
At the same time, Twitter is moving forward as if it will remain an independent company, people involved in the negotiations said.
This strategy reflects the challenges Twitter faces.
It is trying to clarify the company’s mission and focus, all while handling deal talks, the potential threat of an activist shareholder lawsuit and a declining stock price.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees reveal frustration among the rank-and-file. A handful of employees have even stopped showing up for work entirely, several people said.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, has sent two companywide memos to shore up employees’ spirits, one in mid-September and one last week, but he did not shed light on the rumors about a sale of the company, leading to more grumbling by employees.
As it focuses on becoming profitable, Twitter is also looking to sell Vine, the six-second video sharing app, and Fabric, a mobile developer platform.
Twitter had talked to Microsoft about acquiring Fabric, according to four people involved in the matter, but those talks stalled when Salesforce, one of Microsoft’s competitors, was rumored to be interested in Twitter.
And in a move that is unlikely to help morale at Twitter, the company is also considering additional layoffs, after announcing a cut of more than 300 jobs last year.
Buffett Reveals Tax Data
In acknowledging that he hadn’t paid federal income taxes for years by claiming nearly $1 billion in losses, Donald J. Trump essentially called outWarren E. Buffett during Sunday’s presidential debate, saying that the investor also took a “massive deduction.”
“My 2015 return shows adjusted gross income of $11,563,931,” he revealed. “My deductions totaled $5,477,694.”
About two-thirds of those represented charitable contributions, he said. Most of the rest were related to Mr. Buffett’s state income tax payments.
He also chided Mr. Trump for not releasing his own returns.
“I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit,” Mr. Buffett wrote. “Neither would Mr. Trump — at least he would have no legal problem.”
Trump’s Words Would Set Off H.R. Alarms
If Mr. Trump weren’t running his own business, would he be able to get hired elsewhere?
Andrew Ross Sorkin writes that it is unlikely that Mr. Trump’s vulgar remarks about women would be passed off as mere “locker room talk” in corporate America today.
“Thousands of employees have been fired or pushed out for using far less repugnant language than Mr. Trump’s words about how he gropes women,” he says.
There was a time in Wall Street when sexual harassment was common, but lawsuits and huge settlements have human resource departments more aware of the danger that someone like Mr. Trump would pose to a company.
“It would be a significant risk for a Fortune 500 company to bring in someone like this,” said Tom Spiggle, a former prosecutor who is now a discrimination lawyer and who has sounded the alarm about Mr. Trump on social media. “It could be a tremendous liability.”
Coming Up
• Earnings season begins with Alcoa, which will report its third-quarter results.
• The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether Samsung, the South Korean electronics company, must pay Apple some $400 million for copying part of the design of the iPhone.
• Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, holds a town hall-style meeting at Bethel University in Minnesota.
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