SiliconBeat

Salesforce.com (CRM), the San Francisco enterprise software company, is among the companies being considered for inclusion on the widely watched S&P 500 index to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a Bloomberg News item citing Citigroup as the source.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest providers of mortgage financing in the U.S., are likely to be removed after their shares have fallen 98 percent so far this year. Each is now valued at less than $1 billion, making them the smallest companies on the index, according to Bloomberg.

Other possible replacement stocks mentioned Read the rest of this entry »

Yahoo (ticker:YHOO) recently launched its new online business video, Tech Ticker. (Who came up with the subtitle “I love the smell of the profits in the morning”…?)

We’ll reserve judgment on content and quality while it gets its sea legs. But today they’re featuring NetSuite (ticker:N) which reports earnings today. NetSuite was backed by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and went public back in December. Since then, its stock has fallen almost by 50 percent from its peak to $22.99 in mid-day trading on Thursday.

Here are a couple of videos where host Sarah Lacy cuddles up on the couch with NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson to talk Big Larry, Salesforce.com, and the company’s IPO:

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When last we wrote of Stratton Sclavos, former CEO of VeriSign (ticker:VRSN) and international man of mystery, he was leaving his former company under less than ideal circumstances (options backdating probe, blah, blah, blah). No charges or accusations of wrongdoing, but still…

Then in July, we learned he got a $25 million severance package. And since then, it’s been all quiet on the Sclavos front.

Today, we got a little reminder that he’s still alive and kicking and serving on the board of Salesforce.com (ticker:CRM). In a series of Form 4s filed on Wednesday, Stratton reported that he sold 90,780 shares of his Salesforce.com stock on Nov. 20 to collect about $5.1 million.

Stratton picked a good day to sell. Salesforce’s stock jumped from $54.51 to $57.40 as he sold his stock through out the day. We’re not sure what gave the stock its boost.

Say this for Stratton: For a guy who doesn’t have a full-time, he’s still managing to make a heck of a lot more money than most of us.  

There may be people in Silicon Valley who are underpaid. But Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com’ chief executive, chairman, founder and all around social consciousness raiser, isn’t one of them.

Okay, technically Benioff isn’t in the Valley, he’s in San Francisco. But, whatever. His shadow looms large enough for us to consider him part of the extended family. He cut his teeth at Oracle. And then made a big splash when Salesforce.com (ticker:CRM) went public in June 2004.

Since then, Benioff has sold 11,133,200 shares of Salesforce.com stock to collect $377,017,139. And according to a string of Form 4s filed recently, that figure includes another 210,000 shares he’s sold so far this month, to rake in another $8.9 million.

And lest you think he’s nearing the end, Benioff still holds 15,961,006 shares, worth about $637,003,749.46 as of mid-day Wednesday day with the stock trading at $39.91 per share. The stock is up about 17 percent from one year ago.