Talk:Marc Benioff

Misleading

This article is MISLEADING. Marc Benioff did NOT invent cloud computing. He is just mass producing (or, in this case, "offering") it like McDonalds. ask123 (talk) 19:14, 1 October 2009 (UTC) --- I am just figuring out howto mark it as stub, obviously it is not enciclopedic style, if not pure (self)-promotion

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Dieter Huelskamp (talk) 00:27, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Bogus Summary

The whole opening paragraph reads like a bad sales pitch. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.27.121.68 (talk) 04:16, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Ethnicity

Somthing like "Ethnicity Jewish" not exists. Jewish are Palestinian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.96.238.116 (talk) 04:29, 8 November 2014 (UTC)

Cropped the lead per the Sept 2018 notice

The second paragraph focused on philanthropy seemed suspiciously out of place especially considering there's an entire section devoted to it, so I moved/merged any citations into the relevant philanthropic contributions section and removed the entire second paragraph from the lead. Marc Benioff Edit by Eganist at 04:03, 13 April 2019‎ - feel free to review. Eganist (talk) 04:12, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

Professionally Edited?

Interesting details in some of the citations e.g. the one I just named "forbes-best-co-list" -- the citation about Salesforce being a Best Company to work at is placed over Salesforce's description as a cloud computing company. This purpose can be served by the forbes-profile citation, so I went ahead and made the edit removing the forbes-best-co-list citation since it's entirely irrelevant to the point being cited. But the point I'm making is that in combination with the charitable giving model plugged into the lead as well as the reference to the best companies list, it seems like this article was likely professionally edited and needs a few passes by other unbiased editors. I'm a novice editor, though, so I'd encourage others to review my edits. Marc Benioff Edit by Eganist at 04:06, 13 April 2019‎ - feel free to review. Eganist (talk) 04:12, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

Influence and honors

This list of recognitions is too promotional for my taste. Sure, Benioff has influence and has received honors; that's the nature of being a billionaire CEO. But since the article's neutrality is disputed, I'd recommend deleting this entire section. FishAndChips36 (talk) 12:47, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

Edit Request

Hello! I’m Anna. I work for Salesforce. I have some edits to request for this article. I’ve tried to make them as readable as possible, so I’ve shown a before and after version. Please let me know if I could improve the way I make requests or if you have any questions! I look forward to working with the Wikipedia community on improving this article!

I have five requests.

1: In the first section, please add information about Benioff’s net worth as reported by Bloomberg, as shown below.

New:

• In September 2018, Benioff acquired Time.[3] As of February 2022, Benioff had an estimated net worth of US$8.31 billion according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Original:

• In September 2018, Benioff acquired Time.[3]

 Partly done Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

2: In the Career section, please add information about Time Ventures, Benioff’s memberships in Business Roundtable and the Business Council, and Benioff’s co-CEO status, as shown below:

New:

• On September 16, 2018, Marc and his wife Lynne bought Time for $190 million.[3]

In 2019, Benioff started Time Ventures, a venture capital fund that has invested in multiple companies, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Universal Hydrogen and NCX. In 2021, two companies Time Venture backed, Planet Labs and IonQ, went public.

Benioff is a member of Business Roundtable, an advocacy group of CEOs, and the Business Council.

In November 2021, Benioff became co-CEO of Salesforce when Bret Taylor's promotion to co-CEO was announced.

Original:

• On September 16, 2018, Marc and his wife Lynne bought Time for $190 million.[3]

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

3: In the Co-written Work section, please state that the 2019 book became a New York Times bestseller, as shown below.

New:

• In 2019, he again co-wrote Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change, with Monica Langley.[19] The book became a New York Times bestseller.

Original:

• In 2019, he again co-wrote Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change, with Monica Langley.[19]

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

4: Please retitle the “Influence and Honors” section to “Recognition,” and include Benioff’s honors from Harvard Business Review, CNN Business, GLAAD, the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, and Variety Magazine, as shown below.

New:

• “Recognition”

…

In 2016, Fortune magazine named him one of the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders."[27] He was recognized as one of the 10 Best-Performing CEOs by Harvard Business Review and as the CNN Business CEO of 2020. Benioff has also been honored by GLAAD, the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative and by Variety Magazine with its EmPOWerment Award.

Original:

• “Influence and Honors”

…

In 2016, Fortune magazine named him one of the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders."[27]

 Done I broke out each year into its own line. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

5: Please add subsections and new information to the Philanthropy section as follows. I have inserted italics around new information. New sources are included as well.

• 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.

“Health Care”

In 2010, the Benioffs donated $100 million to UCSF Children's Hospital.[33] In 2014, they donated an additional $100 million to the hospital and $50 million to fund research on premature birth.[33] In 2019, the Benioffs donated $25 million to UCSF to create the UCSF Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine; $10 million to Stanford for the Microbiome Therapies Initiative; and $35 million to establish a Prostate Cancer Research Initiative at UCSF.

“Sustainability”

In 2016, Benioff announced a $10 million donation to the University of California - Santa Barbara to establish the Benioff Ocean Initiative. 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.

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. In October 2020, Marc and Lynne Benioff were founding partners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, a program for finding solutions to environmental issues.[34] In October 2021, Benioff pledged a $200 million donation to plant trees and fund ecologically-focused entrepreneurs.[35] Salesforce also donated $100 million to the same causes.[35][36]

They are also founding members of the World Economic Forum's Friends of Ocean Action initiative, providing approximately $11 million in funding.

“Homelessness”

In 2019, the Benioffs donated $30 million to UCSF to establish the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative to study the impact of homelessness, housing, and health.[37]

“COVID-19"

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

Benioff and his wife have been recognized as top philanthropists** by Forbes and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.[29][30][31][32]

 Done Mostly...no sections, and added everything in mostly chronological order. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

Thank you! Annasf3986 (talk) 20:42, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

References

@Annasf3986 Mostly done as noted above. Cheers Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:39, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

2024 COI edit requests

Hello! COI editor here for Salesforce, a client of an agency affiliated with my employer, Porter Novelli. Requesting some updates to this article:

original requests

Add to end of "Recognition" section: In February 2019, the National Academy of Engineering elected Benioff as a member. He became a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in October 2022 for his contributions to COVID-19 pandemic relief in French Polynesia. The Yale School of Management gave Benioff the Yale Legend in Leadership Award in June 2024. The "Philanthropy" section reads as disorganized to me: it's organized partly chronologically, and partly by topic. I suggest incorporating some subsections presenting content already in the article. This is nuanced, but I've mocked up what this could look like below. The first paragraph of the current section is retained as an introductory paragraph, with a line pulled from the end of the current fifth paragraph and one sentence from the third paragraph that was focused on a separate topic. The current second and fourth paragraphs are combined into a "Healthcare" subsection. The third and fifth paragraphs form a "Sustainability" subsection. Finally, the sixth paragraph is a "Hawaii" subsection. (Arguably this could fit under "Healthcare", but I think it fits better with the additional content I propose later in this request.) proposed Philanthropy subsections 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. Marc and Lynne Benioff have been included in lists of top givers by Forbes and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. 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. Healthcare 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; and $35 million to establish a Prostate Cancer Research Initiative at University of California, San Francisco. In March 2020, Benioff procured 50 million pieces of personal protective equipment for hospitals and COVID-19 first responders in the United States. In April 2020, Benioff donated more than $1 million to Give2SF COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund. In April 2021, Benioff and Salesforce sent a plane filled with medical supplies to India to help the country handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability In 2016, Benioff announced a $10 million donation to the University of California at Santa Barbara to establish the Benioff Ocean Initiative. 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. 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. In October 2020, Marc and Lynne Benioff were founding partners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, a program for finding solutions to environmental issues. In October 2021, Benioff pledged a $200 million donation to plant trees and fund ecologically focused entrepreneurs. Salesforce also donated $100 million to the same causes. In 2021, they were founding members of the World Economic Forum's Friends of Ocean Action initiative, providing approximately $11 million in funding. Hawaii In 2024, the Benioffs donated a total of $150 million towards Hawaii hospitals that will link Hawaii Pacific Health system (HPH) with Hilo Medical Center (HMC) and the UCSF Health. $100 million will be used toward the redevelopment of the new Straub Hospital campus in Honolulu, part of HPH, slated for completion in 2026; $50 million will go towards revamping the aging Hilo Medical Center on the Hawaii island. HPH intends to collaborate with HMC in physician co-recruitment efforts on the Hawaii island, while UCSF Health, specifically and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, will provide clinical expertise outreach efforts in oncology and neurology for patients needing specialized care at these Hawaii facilities. Both Straub and HMC will rename their hospitals to Straub Benioff Medical Center and Hilo Benioff Medical Center, respectively, in recognition of the Benioffs. Add to the end of the first paragraph of "Philanthropy" (after "...one percent of its revenue to charitable causes."): Benioff and Scott Farquhar founded Pledge 1%, a San Francisco-based nonprofit focused on corporate giving, in 2014. As of 2023, the organization had secured pledges from more than 18,000 companies. Add to the "Sustainability" subsection of "Philanthropy": Marc and Lynne Benioff pledged another $60 million to expand the Benioff Ocean Initiative – now the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory – in September 2022, bringing their total support for UC Santa Barbara's ocean programs to $88 million. The donation included funds to expand the Whale Safe program using technology to help prevent collisions between ships and whales. In May 2023, Stanford launched a new "ecopreneurship" program for students working on climate-related projects, supported by a sizable gift from the Benioffs. Add to the "Hawaii" subsection of "Philanthropy": Benioff has long expressed an affinity for Hawaii, often citing ʻohana as a component of Salesforce company culture. In 2023, Marc and Lynne Benioff contributed $5 million to the Hawaii Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program to alleviate student loan debt for medical professionals working in Hawaii. The Benioffs donated $1 million to the West Maui Improvement Foundation to buy a modular fire station for Olowalu in May 2024. Benioff's donations beginning in 2017 provided half the funding for Hawaii fire departments to purchase two new helicopters, announced in June 2024. The Benioffs also partnered with the Sayre Foundation to bring a rescue boat to Hawaii and donate 12 firetrucks. The Benioffs have pledged $12 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation over a five-year period beginning in 2022 to support cleanup of the Midway Atoll. In December 2023, Marc and Lynne Benioff donated 282 acres of land and $7 million to the Hilo-based nonprofit Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation to build affordable housing near Waimea. Another donation of 158 acres was announced in June 2024, having been held since purchase until the nonprofit confirmed it could use the full acreage. According to a Benioff spokesperson, as of March 2024 the Benioffs have given away nearly 75 percent of the total land they had purchased in Hawaii and over 90 percent of the land purchased since 2020. The Benioffs' total donations in the state exceeded $250 million as of June 2024. In August 2024, the Benioffs provided funding for the Lahaina HERO Awards, an initiative from Hawaii governor Josh Green to appreciate Lahaina educators following the Maui wildfires. The initiative provides $2,500 to eligible salaried employees and up to $1,000 to casual workers, with approximately 400 Department of Education employees eligible. Benioff's land purchases in Hawaii are also mentioned at the end of the "Career" section, which feels like an odd place for that information; it may make more sense consolidated with the above. Happy to suggest specific language if helpful.

Sources

Thanks for your time and consideration! Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:14, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

Edited to add one more recent new item to the above. Mary Gaulke (talk) 02:19, 24 August 2024 (UTC)

Any individual item here seems basically unobjectionable, but altogether this ends up with a philanthropy section which is significantly longer than anything else on the page, with a lot of detail. I am not really convinced this amount of emphasis is WP:DUE. Rusalkii (talk) 20:12, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

@Rusalkii: Thank you for the feedback! I've cut down the proposals into the revised requests below. (Also collapsed my original requests above to avoid overwhelming the talk page.)

• Add to end of "Recognition" section:

In February 2019, the National Academy of Engineering elected Benioff as a member. He became a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in October 2022 for his contributions to COVID-19 pandemic relief in French Polynesia. The Yale School of Management gave Benioff the Yale Legend in Leadership Award in June 2024.

• As I noted above, I think it makes sense to organize the "Philanthropy" section by topic. I've mocked up what this could look like below. The first paragraph of the current section is retained as an introductory paragraph, with a line pulled from the end of the current fifth paragraph and one sentence from the third paragraph that was focused on a separate topic. The current second and fourth paragraphs are combined into a "Healthcare" subsection. The third and fifth paragraphs form a "Sustainability" subsection. Finally, the sixth paragraph is a "Hawaii" subsection. I also propose moving the last paragraph of "Career", on Benioff's land purchases in Hawaii, to this section.

proposed Philanthropy subsections

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. Marc and Lynne Benioff have been included in lists of top givers by Forbes and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. 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. Healthcare 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; and $35 million to establish a Prostate Cancer Research Initiative at University of California, San Francisco. In March 2020, Benioff procured 50 million pieces of personal protective equipment for hospitals and COVID-19 first responders in the United States. In April 2020, Benioff donated more than $1 million to Give2SF COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund. In April 2021, Benioff and Salesforce sent a plane filled with medical supplies to India to help the country handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability In 2016, Benioff announced a $10 million donation to the University of California at Santa Barbara to establish the Benioff Ocean Initiative. 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. 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. In October 2020, Marc and Lynne Benioff were founding partners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, a program for finding solutions to environmental issues. In October 2021, Benioff pledged a $200 million donation to plant trees and fund ecologically focused entrepreneurs. Salesforce also donated $100 million to the same causes. In 2021, they were founding members of the World Economic Forum's Friends of Ocean Action initiative, providing approximately $11 million in funding. Hawaii A 2024 investigation by NPR journalist Dara Kerr found that Benioff has purchased more than 600 acres of land in Hawaii, mostly near the town of Waimea on Big Island. Benioff's purchases, which totaled $24.5 million as of February 2024, have sparked concern among Waimea locals regarding rising housing prices. In 2024, the Benioffs donated a total of $150 million towards Hawaii hospitals that will link Hawaii Pacific Health system (HPH) with Hilo Medical Center (HMC) and the UCSF Health. $100 million will be used toward the redevelopment of the new Straub Hospital campus in Honolulu, part of HPH, slated for completion in 2026; $50 million will go towards revamping the aging Hilo Medical Center on the Hawaii island. HPH intends to collaborate with HMC in physician co-recruitment efforts on the Hawaii island, while UCSF Health, specifically and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, will provide clinical expertise outreach efforts in oncology and neurology for patients needing specialized care at these Hawaii facilities. Both Straub and HMC will rename their hospitals to Straub Benioff Medical Center and Hilo Benioff Medical Center, respectively, in recognition of the Benioffs.

• Add to the end of the first paragraph of "Philanthropy" (after "...one percent of its revenue to charitable causes."):

Benioff and Scott Farquhar founded Pledge 1%, a San Francisco-based nonprofit focused on corporate giving, in 2014. As of 2023, the organization had secured pledges from more than 18,000 companies.

• Add to the "Sustainability" subsection of "Philanthropy":

Marc and Lynne Benioff pledged another $60 million to expand the Benioff Ocean Initiative – now the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory – in September 2022, bringing their total support for UC Santa Barbara's ocean programs to $88 million. The donation included funds to expand the Whale Safe program using technology to help prevent collisions between ships and whales.

• Add to the "Hawaii" subsection of "Philanthropy":

Benioff has long expressed an affinity for Hawaii, often citing ʻohana as a component of Salesforce company culture. In 2023, Marc and Lynne Benioff contributed $5 million to the Hawaii Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program to alleviate student loan debt for medical professionals working in Hawaii. The Benioffs have pledged $12 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation over a five-year period beginning in 2022 to support cleanup of the Midway Atoll. Other donations have funded a modular fire station in Olowalu, two fire department helicopters, a rescue boat, and 12 firetrucks, as well as grants to Lahaina Department of Education employees.

In December 2023, Marc and Lynne Benioff donated 282 acres of land and $7 million to the Hilo-based nonprofit Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation to build affordable housing near Waimea. Another donation of 158 acres was announced in June 2024, having been held since purchase until the nonprofit confirmed it could use the full acreage. According to a Benioff spokesperson, as of March 2024 the Benioffs have given away nearly 75 percent of the total land they had purchased in Hawaii and over 90 percent of the land purchased since 2020. The Benioffs' total donations in the state exceeded $250 million as of June 2024.

Sources

Please let me know if you have any other feedback! Thank you for your time. Mary Gaulke (talk) 13:34, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

FYI to any reviewers: I've reached out to Rusalkii, but it seems they're no longer interested in reviewing these requests. I welcome feedback from anyone else able to take a look! Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:21, 8 October 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: The Philanthropy and Social Activism sections of this article are far too long. I invite you to draw up a proposal to truncate them dramatically. For example, I really don't see why the scale of donations should continually be recorded as such information is clearly non-encyclopaedic and apparently serves an entirely different agenda. Most of the material should simply be removed. Axad12 (talk) 20:06, 8 October 2024 (UTC)