???????????????? This week in Bay Area business: a huge funding round, agents for the mayor, our executive of the year and more.
San Francisco Business Times
The San Francisco region's source for local business news & events. Part of the American City Business Journals network.
It’s the holiday season and things are getting busy.
Stock markets took a hit this week. Investors will be hoping Santa comes to town but the yuletide rally has yet to arrive. Guess we’ll find out who’s been naughty or nice soon enough.
One jocular bearded man was in a giving mood; Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff dispensed some advice to San Francisco mayor elect Daniel Lurie. Spoiler, AI agents, Benioff said, could be the gift that keeps on giving for City Hall.
Data company Databricks closes the year with a bulging sack of cash after a multibillion dollar funding round.?
While a much anticipated development arrived in the San Francisco hotel worker’s strike as one chain neared a settlement with unions.?
Elsewhere, doom loop watchers had plenty to unwrap as a mammoth San Francisco loan modification fell apart while a key metric suggests that workers are returning to the office.?
And we announced our Executive of the Year.
All that and more in another week in Bay Area business.?
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Best wishes for the holiday season and see you in 2025.?
Marriott, Unite Here Local 2 reach tentative contract terms by Alex Barreira
After 87 days of strike and clamoring protest, Marriott and hotel workers union Unite Here Local 2 leadership have tentatively agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Modification of $1.5 billion loan tied to Parkmerced falls apart at the last minute by Sarah Klearman
Maximus Real Estate Partners failed to close on a negotiated agreement to modify a loan backed by Parkmerced, throwing a wrench into its efforts to retain ownership of the sprawling apartment complex.
'Upside in San Francisco again': Return of office workers fueled by big employers by Doug Sams
San Francisco saw a 1.6% year-over-year rise in office visits last month, signaling an ongoing if gradual recovery from the exodus of large technology employers following the pandemic. Only Miami posted stronger gains in office attendance, according to Placer.ai .
This tech CEO is our Executive of the Year by Sara Bloomberg
Fidji Simo flipped Instacart 's fortunes around after a rough public debut and she sees more opportunity on the horizon.?
“I don't love easy. I love being a driver, not a passenger.”
Newly renovated Oakland office nabs medical tenant by Hannah Kanik
A newly renovated medical center in Oakland's "Pill Hill" neighborhood has landed its first tenant, the Center for Elders' Independence , an Oakland-based nonprofit medical provider that helps seniors.
The week in real estate
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Marc Benioff thinks the fix for San Francisco's City Hall is AI agents by William Hicks
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff had some advice for incoming San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie. The key to improving the city might be AI Agents.
"I've talked to (Lurie), and I told him I'll do anything to help him," Benioff said. "I told him to build an agent for the city."
Databricks nabs one of the Bay Area's biggest fundings of all time by Ted Andersen
Databricks , a privately held data-management company serving the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector, is now worth a whopping $62 billion and it has some friends in high places.
The San Francisco company announced it is raising $10 billion in Series J funding from investors. The funding is led by new Thrive Capital, which is run by CEO Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of former Trump White House adviser Jared Kushner.
Executive profile: After clean energy breakthrough this CEO is making a power play by Ted Andersen
Focused Energy CEO Scott Mercer is driving a company that could bring the benefits of fusion ignition to millions.
“It does take a fairly serious amount of capital to do this,” Mercer said. “But if you get it right, this is one of the technologies that could be one of most valuable industries in the history of the world.”
ICYMI here’s what else you need to know
Moonshots and Doom Loops ?????????
This weekly Bay Area business? round-up is written by Simon Campbell, special projects editor at the San Francisco Business Times.
Reach out with news tips, questions or comments: [email protected].
And one more thing . . .
Nominate and celebrate ????
Nominations are open for our awards and events including:
...and many more.
Stay safe and we'll see you in the new year.