Salesforce spends record $27B on stock buybacks to combat SaaSpocalypse

Salesforce just did something no company has ever done before. In March 2026, it executed a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase, the largest in corporate history, as part of a broader $50 billion buyback program its board approved in February 2026. By the time Q1 FY2027 earnings landed, the company had returned a total of $27.5 billion to shareholders in a single quarter, comprising $27.1 billion through share repurchases and $365 million in dividends. What Salesforce actually did, and why On March 11, 2026, Salesforce entered into accelerated share repurchase agreements with several major banks, including Banco Santander and JPMorgan Chase. An accelerated share repurchase is essentially a way to buy back a large block of shares upfront, with banks sourcing those shares immediately from the open market on the company’s behalf. The initial delivery of approximately 103 million shares occurred on March 16, 2026, just five days after the deal was signed. The net result: Salesforce reduced its diluted share count by 10% year-over-year. Salesforce funded the ASR partly through a $25 billion debt issuance, a move that has already forced the company to revise its annual operating and...