Salesforce to slash jobs at Own after $1.9B acquisition finalized
Salesforce to slash jobs at Own after $1.9B acquisition finalized
Post-merger workforce reductions leave employees bracing for change.
Salesforce completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Israeli-founded startup Own earlier this week, and employees have been promptly notified of impending layoffs. According to Bloomberg, Salesforce representatives gave a presentation to Own’s workers this week, explaining that certain roles will no longer be required “post-harmonization.”
Employees affected by the layoffs will leave by January 31, 2025, while some roles designated as “transitional” will continue for three to 12 months before being phased out.
Own, formerly known as OwnBackup, employs approximately 1,000 people, including staff at its R&D center in Israel. It remains unclear how many total positions will be eliminated. The company had previously laid off 150 employees—about 10% of its workforce—in 2022.
A Salesforce spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
The acquisition of Own, an Israeli data management company, was completed on Monday. This marked Salesforce’s largest purchase since its $28 billion acquisition of Slack in 2021. The deal, originally announced in September, was finalized earlier in the day via a cash transfer.
Founded in 2015 by Ariel Berkman, Ori Yankelev, Sam Gutmann, and Eran Cohen, Own specializes in secure data management and backup solutions, primarily for Salesforce applications. The company had raised nearly $500 million in funding and reached a peak valuation of $3.3 billion during the funding boom of 2021.
Despite the high acquisition price, investors from Own’s most recent funding round in August 2021 may face losses, as the deal’s valuation falls below the $3.3 billion achieved at its peak. That 2021 funding round, led by B Capital Group and Alkeon Capital, saw Own’s valuation skyrocket from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion within six months. During this time, employees also benefited, as the funding round included a $25 million secondary stock sale that allowed staff to cash out shares.
The acquisition’s primary beneficiaries include Horizon Capital (formerly Oryzn), which led Own's Seed and pre-Seed rounds, along with Israeli venture fund Vertex, and U.S.-based firms Insight Partners, BlackRock, and Tiger Global. Early backer Innovation Endeavors also secured a significant return.
For Salesforce, a global leader in enterprise software with a market valuation of $310 billion, the acquisition reinforces its commitment to data security and backup solutions, bolstering its capabilities in a critical area of enterprise technology.
