Marc Benioff
Benioff in 2021
Born
Marc Russell Benioff

(1964-09-25) September 25, 1964
San Francisco, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Southern California (BS)
Known forFounder, chairman and CEO, Salesforce
Co-chair and owner, Time[1]
SpouseLynne Krilich
Children2

Marc Russell Benioff (born September 25, 1964)[2] is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. Benioff is best known as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the software company Salesforce, as well as being the owner of Time magazine since 2018.[3][4]

Early life and education

Benioff was raised in a Jewish family[5][6] in the San Francisco Bay Area.[7] He is the grandson of Marvin Lewis, a California trial attorney and once-time member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who championed the creation of the BART system.[8][9] Benioff grew up in Hillsborough[10] and graduated from Burlingame High School in 1982.[11] Benioff received a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, in 1986.[11][12] Benioff is a second cousin of showrunner and television writer David Benioff, known for Game of Thrones.[13] He is married to Lynne Benioff and has two children. The family lives in San Francisco, California.[3][11]

Career

While in high school, Benioff sold his first application, How to Juggle, for $75.[11] In 1979, when he was 15, Benioff founded Liberty Software, creating and selling games such as Flapper and King Arthur's Heir for the Atari 8-bit.[11][14][15] Royalties from these games helped Benioff pay for college.[11][16]

While at USC, Benioff had an internship as a programmer at Apple where he wrote assembly code for the Macintosh.[17][18] He joined Oracle Corporation in a customer-service role after graduating.[11] Benioff worked at Oracle for 13 years in a variety of sales, marketing, and product development roles.[3] At 23, he was named Oracle's Rookie of the Year. Three years later, he became the youngest person in the company's history to earn the title of vice president.[3]

Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999[19] in a San Francisco apartment and defined its mission in a marketing statement as "The End of Software."[20] This was a slogan he used frequently to preach about software on the Web, and used as a guerilla marketing tactic against the dominant CD-ROM CRM competitor Siebel at the time.[21] Benioff extended Salesforce's offerings in the early 2000s with the idea of a platform that allowed developers to create applications.[22]

Benioff also serves on the World Economic Forum's board of trustees and USC board of trustees.[3][7] On September 16, 2018, Marc and his wife Lynne bought Time for $190 million.[4] In 2019, Benioff started Time Ventures, a venture capital fund that has invested in multiple companies, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Universal Hydrogen and NCX.[23][24][25][26][27] In 2021, two companies Time Venture backed, Planet Labs and IonQ, went public.[28][29][30] Benioff is a member of Business Roundtable, an advocacy group of CEOs, and the Business Council.[31][32] In November 2021, Benioff became co-CEO of Salesforce when Bret Taylor's promotion to co-CEO was announced.[33] One year later, Bret Taylor stepped down as Salesforce co-CEO, leaving Marc Benioff as the sole CEO again.[34] As of February 2022, Benioff had an estimated net worth of US$8.31 billion according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[35]

Co-written work

Benioff has co-written four books about business and technology. In 2004, he co-wrote Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well with Karen Southwick.[36] In 2006, he co-wrote The Business of Changing the World: 20 Great Leaders on Strategic Corporate Philanthropy with Carlye Adler.[36] In 2009, he co-wrote Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company and Revolutionized an Industry, also with Carlye Adler.[37] In 2019, he again co-wrote Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change, with Monica Langley.[36] The book became a New York Times bestseller.[38]

Recognition

Benioff during the WEF 2013

In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Benioff co-chair of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee.[39] In 2009, Benioff was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and is a member of its board of trustees.[40][41] In 2012, he was named one of the "Best CEOs in the World" by Barron's[42] and received The Economist's Innovation Award.[43] In 2014, Fortune readers voted him "Businessperson of the Year."[44] In 2016, Fortune named him one of the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders."[45] In 2019, he was recognized as one of the 10 Best-Performing CEOs by Harvard Business Review[46] and as the CNN Business CEO of 2020.[47]

Philanthropy

Marc Benioff in 2009

In addition to founding Salesforce in 1999, Benioff also founded the Salesforce Foundation. The foundation uses a "1-1-1" approach to corporate philanthropy, where the company gives one percent of employee time as volunteer hours, one percent of its product and one percent of its revenue to charitable causes.[48][49][50]

In 2010, the Benioffs donated $100 million to UCSF Children's Hospital. In 2014, they donated an additional $100 million to the hospital and $50 million to fund research on premature birth. In 2019, the Benioffs donated $25 million to UCSF to create the UCSF Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine; $10 million to Stanford University for the Microbiome Therapies Initiative;[51] and $35 million to establish a Prostate Cancer Research Initiative at University of California, San Francisco.[52]

In 2016, Benioff announced a $10 million donation to the University of California at Santa Barbara to establish the Benioff Ocean Initiative.[53] In 2017, the Benioffs partnered with the US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to form the Pacific Islands Research and Conservation Programme.[54] In 2019, the Benioffs donated $30 million to the Center for Vulnerable Populations for the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative to study the impacts of homelessness, housing, and health.[55] In January 2020, Benioff announced that he and his wife would provide financial backing for 1t.org to support a global initiative to plant and conserve 1 trillion trees over the next decade.[56]

In March 2020, Benioff procured 50 million pieces of personal protective equipment for hospitals and COVID-19 first responders in the United States.[57] In April 2020, Benioff donated more than $1 million to Give2SF COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.[58] In April 2021, Benioff and Salesforce sent a plane filled with medical supplies to India to help the country handle the COVID-19 pandemic.[59]

In October 2020, Marc and Lynne Benioff were founding partners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, a program for finding solutions to environmental issues.[60] In October 2021, Benioff pledged a $200 million donation to plant trees and fund ecologically focused entrepreneurs.[61] Salesforce also donated $100 million to the same causes.[61][62] In 2021, they were founding members of the World Economic Forum's Friends of Ocean Action initiative, providing approximately $11 million in funding.[54] Marc and Lynne Benioff have been included in lists of top givers by Forbes and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.[63][64][65][66]

Social activism

In March 2015, Benioff announced Salesforce would cancel all employee programs and travel in the state of Indiana after the passing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill that would allow companies and individuals to choose not to serve LGBT individuals based on religious beliefs.[67] Benioff led an effort of business leaders fighting back against the legislation, leading to a revised version of the bill being signed into law that prohibited businesses from denying services to someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity.[68]

In April 2015, Benioff announced that he would review salaries at Salesforce to ensure men and women were paid equally.[69] In February 2016, Benioff announced that Salesforce would reduce investments in Georgia and cancel a conference if HB 757, a bill that would allow businesses to decline services to same-sex couples, was passed.[70] The governor vetoed the bill.[71]

In an October 2018 interview with The Guardian, Benioff criticized other technology industry executives for "hoarding" their money and refusing to help the homeless in the San Francisco Bay Area.[72] In November, Benioff announced his support for San Francisco's Prop C measure that would increase taxes on large corporations to aid unhoused residents in the city.[73] In September 2021, Benioff announced that Salesforce would relocate any Texas employees who wanted to move after an abortion law went into effect.[74][75]

References

  1. ↑ "The Enduring Hope of Jane Goodall". time.com. September 30, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Benioff, Marc R. 1964- [WorldCat Identities]".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marc Benioff". Forbes. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Chozick, Amy; Gelles, David (September 16, 2018). "Time Magazine Is Bought by Marc Benioff, Salesforce Billionaire". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Jerusalem Post: "Jews take 5 of top 6 spots in annual list of top US givers" By JACOB BERKMAN September 2, 2011
  6. ↑ Jewish Philanthropy: "Jewish Philanthropy 2.0" February 23, 2011
  7. 1 2 Rogers, Matt Weinberger, Taylor Nicole. "The rise of Marc Benioff, the bombastic owner of Time Magazine who just became Salesforce's sole CEO, has an $8 billion fortune, and owns a 5-acre compound in Hawaii". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Marc Benioff, Salesforce, and the monorail-loving SF supervisor who inspired them". October 15, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Marvin e. Lewis, 84, A Pioneering Lawyer". The New York Times. October 7, 1991.
  10. ↑ "Russell Benioff, owner of apparel chain, dies". January 17, 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 San Francisco Gate: "Marc Benioff, CEO, makes philanthropy a priority" by Casey Newton July 24, 2011
  12. ↑ Lynley, Matt. "Frat Boys Are Taking Over The Tech World". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  13. ↑ Bort, Julie (April 12, 2015). "How these famous Benioffs are related". Business Insider. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ Duberman, David (January 1984). "ROM Fun: Survey of recent cartridge games". Antic. pp. 62–63.
  15. ↑ Bort, Julie. "The Fabulous Life Of Tech Billionaire Marc Benioff". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  16. ↑ Benioff, Marc; Adler, Carlyle (2009). Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company-and Revolutionized an Industry. John Wiley & Sons. pp. xviii–xx. ISBN 978-0-470-53592-9.
  17. ↑ Farber, Dan (September 10, 2013). "Marc Benioff explains Steve Jobs' spirituality and chides Apple". CNET.
  18. ↑ Sauer, Megan (February 22, 2022). "A teenage Marc Benioff cold-called an Apple executive — and got his dream internship". CNBC. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  19. ↑ "The stratospheric rise of Marc Benioff and Salesforce". Fortune. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  20. ↑ Salesforce Blog: "Marc Benioff: How to Turn a Simple Idea into a High-Growth Company" By Marc Benioff March 8, 2013
  21. ↑ "The Marketing Genius of Marc Benioff". ViralWeGrow. December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  22. ↑ "The story of why Marc Benioff gifted the AppStore.com domain to Steve Jobs". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  23. ↑ Hiller, Jennifer (December 2021). "WSJ News Exclusive | Nuclear-Fusion Startup Lands $1.8 Billion as Investors Chase Star Power". Wall Street Journal.
  24. ↑ "Commonwealth Fusion, Backed by Gates, Soros, Benioff, Raises $1.8B". December 2021.
  25. ↑ "NCX raises $50M for natural capital markets". March 2, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Marc Benioff backs start-up that uses satellites to count trees and pays people not to cut them down". CNBC. March 2, 2022.
  27. ↑ "Universal Hydrogen Raises $62 Million in Series B". October 14, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Satellite imagery company Planet Labs is going public, backed by Google, BlackRock and Marc Benioff". CNBC. July 7, 2021.
  29. ↑ Maurer, Mark (November 29, 2021). "Planet Labs Looks to Expand Software Offerings, Win New Customers with IPO Funds". Wall Street Journal.
  30. ↑ "IonQ Takes Quantum Computing Public with A $2 Billion Deal". Forbes.
  31. ↑ "Top execs discuss 'mission that's above profits' in Detroit event". October 4, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Marc Benioff says CEOs must be held more accountable — and pay more taxes, too | CNN Business". CNN. October 17, 2019.
  33. ↑ "Salesforce promotes Bret Taylor to co-CEO alongside Benioff". CNBC. November 30, 2021.
  34. ↑ "Bret Taylor steps down as Salesforce co-CEO". CNBC. November 30, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  36. 1 2 3 "The goodness business: how woke capitalism turned virtue into profit". New Statesman. October 20, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  37. ↑ Kim, Eugene. "Billionaire CEO Marc Benioff is writing a sequel to his best-selling memoir about Salesforce — and wants your help". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  38. ↑ "Books". New York Times. November 15, 2018.
  39. ↑ Feloni, Richard. "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff explains why a Hindu guru and Colin Powell were critical mentors". Business Insider. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  40. ↑ "World Economic Forum Announces New Batch Of Young Global Leaders (Mark Zuckerberg, Chad Hurley, Kevin Rose And More)". TechCrunch. February 25, 2009.
  41. ↑ "C.E.O.s Were Our Heroes, at Least According to Them". The New York Times. January 13, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  42. ↑ Barron's: "World's Best CEOs" By Andrew Bary March 26, 2012
  43. ↑ The Economist: "And the winners were..." By The Economist Staff December 1, 2012
  44. ↑ Fortune: "Vote: Businessperson of the Year - Championship Round" By Fortune Editors November 12, 2014
  45. ↑ Fortune: "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders" By Geoff Colvin March 25, 2016
  46. ↑ "The Best-Performing CEOs in the World, 2019". Harvard Business Review. November 2019.
  47. ↑ "Marc Benioff of Salesforce is the CNN Business CEO of 2020". CNN. December 23, 2020.
  48. ↑ "The stratospheric rise of Marc Benioff and Salesforce".
  49. ↑ "Marc Benioff Reached Millionaire Status by Age 25 -- and 9 Other Things to Know About the Co-Founder of Salesforce". September 17, 2018.
  50. ↑ "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: The big giver". CNET. July 26, 2014.
  51. ↑ "Gut check: Benioffs donate $35 million to further study of microbiome at UCSF, Stanford". August 13, 2019.
  52. ↑ "Benioffs Give $35 Million for UCSF Prostate Cancer Research Initiative". Philanthropy News Digest. September 20, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  53. ↑ "Benioff's new philanthropic mission: The oceans". USA Today.
  54. 1 2 "Benioffs and Salesforce put $300m into combating climate change on eve of COP26 | Computer Weekly".
  55. ↑ "UCSF Launches New Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative with $30M Gift". UCSF Launches New Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative with $30M Gift | UC San Francisco. May 2019.
  56. ↑ "Marc Benioff picks a new fight with Silicon Valley — over trees". January 21, 2020.
  57. ↑ Gelles, David (April 28, 2020). "Marc Benioff's $25 Million Blitz to Buy Protective Gear from China". The New York Times.
  58. ↑ "San Francisco has 75 billionaires. Most of them aren't donating to local COVID-19 relief". April 30, 2020.
  59. ↑ "Salesforce to send plane load of medical supplies to India: Founder Marc Benioff". The Economic Times.
  60. ↑ "'Next 10 years are critical': Prince William backs £50m climate change project Earthshots". The National. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  61. 1 2 Dolan, Kerry A. "Salesforce Billionaire Marc Benioff Pledges $200 Million For Reforestation, Climate Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  62. ↑ "Marc and Lynne Benioff, Salesforce donate $300M to encourage climate action". TechCrunch. October 28, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  63. ↑ "America's Top Givers of 2016". Forbes. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  64. ↑ "No. 10 (tied): Marc R. and Lynne Benioff". philanthropy.com. February 6, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  65. ↑ The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "Young Tech Donors Take Leading Role in Philanthropy 50" By Alex Daniels and Maria Di Mento February 8, 2015
  66. ↑ The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "Bequests Put Conservative Billionaire Richard Scaife Atop List of America's 50 Biggest Donors" By Maria Di Mento and Drew Lindsay February 9, 2016
  67. ↑ indiana Business Journal: "Salesforce CEO: We're canceling travel to Indiana" By Jared Council March 26, 2015
  68. ↑ The Huffington Post: "The CEO Who Took On Indiana's Anti-LGBT Law — And Won" By Alexander C. Kaufman April 7, 2015
  69. ↑ The Huffington Post: "Salesforce CEO Takes Radical Step To Pay Men And Women Equally" By Emily Peck April 23, 2015
  70. ↑ Fortune: "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Battles Georgia Over Gay Rights" By Jonathan Vanian February 26, 2016
  71. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "BREAKING: Nathan Deal vetoes Georgia's 'religious liberty' bill" By Greg Bluestein April 9, 2016
  72. ↑ Levin, Sam (October 17, 2018). "Salesforce CEO: tech billionaires 'hoard their money' and won't help homeless". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  73. ↑ Ghaffary, Shirin (November 14, 2018). "Marc Benioff says he had rabbis and imams supporting the Prop C homelessness tax — but not tech CEOs". Vox. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  74. ↑ "Salesforce to help workers leave states over abortion laws". AP NEWS. September 11, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  75. ↑ Novet, Jordan (September 11, 2021). "Salesforce offers to relocate employees and their families after Texas abortion law goes into effect". CNBC. Retrieved March 30, 2022.

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