Salesforce: We are walking away from Twitter

SAN FRANCISCO — Salesforce.com has ditched Twitter at the altar and the jilted company's shares are plunging — again.

The cloud software company was the last remaining suitor but it has decided not to go forward with a takeover bid, Salesforce said Friday.

Salesforce spokeswoman Chi Hea Cho declined further comment.

“In this case, we’ve walked away. It wasn’t the right fit for us,” Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, told the Financial Times.

Twitter declined to comment.

Twitter still has options other than staying independent. It could explore a buyout from private investors or an activist could try to force the board to negotiate a sale, but neither scenario looks likely now.

Twitter tanks 20.1% as would-be suitors drop out

Now pressure will crank up again on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to reignite growth at the company.

Salesforce had come under pressure of its own from investors who did not want the company to buy Twitter.

“It’s not the right fit for us for many different reasons,” Benioff told the Financial Times.

Asked if price was the deciding factor, he said: “You’re going to look at price, you’re going to look at culture, you’re going to look at everything.”

Wall Street had already all but given up on a Salesforce bid for Twitter. Speculation that Twitter would be sold drove the stock price up, but shares have given up those gains this week. They fell another 5% on Friday. Salesforce shares rose 5%.

"We think CRM shares have been weighed down by concerns about the company pursuing a purchase of Twitter for a premium valuation," said CFRA Research analyst Scott Kessler who is maintaining a "strong buy" on the stock. "However, we do believe CRM is looking to make acquisitions, and the company has been quite active more recently."