Marc Benioff

Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. He founded the company in March 1999 with a vision to create an on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) solution that would replace traditional enterprise software technology. Benioff is now regarded as the leader of what he has termed "The End Of Software," the growing belief that on-demand applications can democratize CRM by delivering immediate benefits to companies of all sizes at reduced risks and costs. Under Benioff's direction, salesforce.com has grown from a ground-breaking idea into a publicly traded company that is the market and technology leader in on-demand CRM. For his contributions both in computing and the community, the Software Development Forum — the leading source of information and education to the technology community — has named Benioff a Silicon Valley Visionary. Benioff, a 25-year software industry veteran, is internationally recognized as one of the preeminent thinkers in information technology. In May 2003, President George W. Bush appointed him co-chairman of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), a bi-partisan organization of business leaders and academics that guides the Administration on developing and adopting vital information technology. This year, Benioff was honored as the Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year by the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business; last year, Ernst & Young named Benioff Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year and SunBridge, the leading incubator in Japan, awarded Benioff Entrepreneur of the Year for his work in catalyzing technology change. Benioff has been the recipient of many other honors: Selling Power named him International CEO of the Year; Fortune Magazine called Benioff one of its Top 10 Entrepreneurs to Watch; BusinessWeek named him one of the 25 people responsible for turning e-business around; CRM Magazine recognized him as one of the 20 most influential people in the industry; and Silicon.com named Benioff to its list of Agenda Setters. Throughout his career, Benioff has been determined to use information technology to produce positive social change. In July 2000, with Colin Powell in attendance, Benioff launched the www.salesforce.com/foundation, a multi-million dollar global philanthropic organization aimed at bridging the digital divide. Pioneering the "1 percent solution" — where the company contributes 1 percent of profits, 1 percent of equity, and 1 percent of employee hours back to the communities it serves — the salesforce.com/foundation has demonstrated the power and impact of integrated philanthropy. In 2004, Benioff co-authored Compassionate Capitalism, the first-ever best practices guide for corporate philanthropy that illustrates the success of the integrated model. The book was launched in conjunction with the World Economic Forum's 2004 meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Previously, members of the World Economic Forum selected Benioff as a "Global Leader of Tomorrow," one of 100 leaders in business, politics, and the arts committed to addressing social issues. In addition, Benioff received the Promise of Peace award from the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu for his work using technology as a means to further Middle East peace and the Bridge Award from the non-profit organization HEAVEN (Helping Educate, Activate, Volunteer, and Empower via the Net) for providing internet access to the underserved in America's inner cities. Prior to creating salesforce.com, Benioff spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, where he held a number of executive positions in sales, marketing, and product development. Before joining Oracle, Benioff worked at Apple Computer and founded Liberty Software. Benioff received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1986.