Marc Benioff is a chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Salesforce. A leading company in cloud computing, it was founded by Marc Benioff in 1999. Benioff envisioned the company as a world-class Internet enterprise focused on sales force automation. Today, Salesforce is one of the Fortune 500 companies, employing over 72,000 people worldwide. The company empowers organizations of all sizes and in every industry to drive and achieve digital transformation by leveraging automation, artificial intelligence, and real-time data. This enables them to create personalized, valuable, and impactful customer experiences.
Marc Benioff was born on September 25, 1964. He is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce.com, a pioneer and leading player in enterprise cloud computing. Benioff graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. In 1999, he founded Salesforce.com to redefine sales force automation. Today, the company has grown into one of the Fortune 500 powerhouses, employing over 72,000 people. Under Benioff's leadership, Salesforce is leveraging AI, automation, and real-time data to further transform industries into digital environments.
Marc Russell Benioff, CEO, Chairman, and Co-founder of Salesforce, was born on September 25, 1964, in San Francisco. Showing signs of an early love for technology, Benioff programmed young. He developed and sold Atari video games when he was just 17. The payoff was enough to send him to the University of Southern California (USC), where he went. He graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1986 and is also associated with the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity on campus.
Benioff started by working at Apple for four months as he did some sample assembly language programs for the Macintosh 68000 Development System.
Later, he joined Oracle Corporation, a leading IT and software company. There, he demonstrated his skills in software development, advancing through various key positions and receiving frequent recognition for his work over 13 years.
In 1999, driven by his entrepreneurial vision, Benioff co-founded Salesforce, which focused on customer relationship management (CRM). The company launched a cloud-based platform that challenged the industry to transition from traditional software practices to a more innovative approach.
Marc Benioff’s visionary approach to recognizing AI’s potential for business has been a key factor in Salesforce’s continued rise to the top. In 2014, Benioff declared during an internal all-hands meeting, “Salesforce will become an AI-first company.”
Later that year, Salesforce acquired RelateIQ, a company that utilized machine learning to analyze workplace communications and provide insights. By 2015, Salesforce began developing an AI-powered opportunity scoring model for sales teams. The following year, it launched one of its flagship AI offerings: Einstein. The introduction of Einstein AI Solutions marked a pivotal moment for Salesforce, placing the company at the forefront of the AI revolution in enterprise software.
Einstein enhances Salesforce's product suite by integrating advanced AI capabilities such as machine learning and predictive analytics to automate routine tasks. This innovation allowed businesses to utilize AI to improve customer relationships and streamline operations, contributing to Salesforce's continued success.
Salesforce's commitment to AI was further emphasized with the launch of its first AI Centre in London, designed to prepare workers for the generative AI revolution. This initiative highlights Marc Benioff's dedication to the transformative impact of AI on both technology and the workforce. Under Benioff's leadership, Salesforce continues to demonstrate how AI can be seamlessly integrated into enterprise systems, driving innovation and growth.
Benioff has a net worth of $10 billion, with a real-time valuation of $52 million as of October 11, 2024, placing him at #255 globally. He co-founded Salesforce in 1999 and retains approximately 2% ownership of the cloud computing giant. Before founding Salesforce, Marc Benioff spent 13 years at Oracle, where he was mentored by Larry Ellison. Salesforce transformed the software industry by pioneering cloud-based services, moving away from traditional on-premise installations. In addition to his business achievements, Benioff is an active angel investor in various tech startups and a committed philanthropist. He and his wife, Lynne, have pledged $350 million to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to support children's hospitals and research initiatives.
Marc Benioff is committed to using information technology to drive positive social change. In 2000, he founded the Salesforce.com Foundation, which has grown into a multimillion-dollar global organization. He introduced the "1-1-1 model," which dedicates 1% of product, equity, and employee time to community support. His efforts to promote collaboration between business and society have earned him recognition as one of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders, as well as the Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award from the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy. Benioff serves on several boards, including those of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, the University of Southern California, and Cisco, and he has authored three books.
In September 2023, Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff called on San Francisco to make the city safe for Dreamforce attendees. "There's a need for clean, for safety," he said. First-time attendees, though, held mixed views on safety; there were comments on social issues where Benioff demonstrated with the philanthropic causes he previously gave money to. The outcome of this year's event could determine whether Salesforce will continue to hold Dreamforce in San Francisco as the city considers how to address continued challenges surrounding homelessness and public safety.
In September 2021, Salesforce agreed to relocate employees and their family members if they have apprehensions about access to reproductive health care following the newly enacted abortion law in Texas. Other tech companies, among them Lyft and Uber, agree to provide their respective employees with free legal advice.
In October 2018, Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO, escalated his attacks on fellow San Francisco billionaires, saying they are “hoarding” money and don’t want to help the homeless. Speaking to the Guardian recently, he pointed a finger at Jack Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter, and said, "He just doesn't want to give, that's all. And he hasn't given anything of consequence in the city."
In May 2015, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff publicly criticized the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana. He canceled company events in the state and warned of "economic sanctions" if the law was not repealed. Benioff urged other tech leaders to join him in this opposition, emphasizing the urgent need to protect employees and customers who could face discrimination.