Marc Benioff, born on September 25, 1964 (59 years old) in San Francisco, United States, is a businessman and business administrator who founded Salesforce, a software company that expanded from its beginnings. In addition, Benioff worked at Apple, Oracle, and was assisted several times by Steve Jobs.
Currently, Benioff serves as chairman and CEO of Salesforce but has a long history in the business world. In fact, he has been involved since he was 15 years old, and at that age, he sold his first company or service.
Education and the time he sold a company at 15
Benioff completed his secondary education at Burlingame School and later enrolled in the Business Administration program at the University of Southern California. However, while still in school, he sold his first app for $75, which led him to found Liberty Software, a video game company for the Atari console.
Already in high school, Benioff had shown his business skills and therefore later focused on business administration at the University of California, where he also became president of one of his fraternities. He had the leadership and management; all he needed was more experience beyond what he already had.
His company allowed him to pay for college until, at the age of 20, he got the chance to join Apple—the world’s largest tech company—as an intern. His entry into the company came through a university internship, specifically as a language programmer, where he had significant interaction with Steve Jobs, Apple’s former CEO.
After receiving his business administration degree, Benioff began working at Oracle Company, a database and software company. His first position was in customer service, but he performed so well that he quickly rose through the ranks.
At 25, nearly three years after joining Oracle, he was named vice president—an unusual and unexpected achievement for Benioff, not due to a lack of ability but because of the incredible rise he achieved in such a short time. At 23, he was Oracle’s Rookie of the Year, and two years later, the youngest vice president in the company’s history.
After 13 years and a very successful career at Oracle, Benioff—full of experience and after a rejuvenating trip—decided to bet on his own company: Salesforce.
Salesforce, Benioff’s project
Salesforce, as outlined in articles about Benioff’s career, was born in an apartment in San Francisco. The innovation of his company was the sale of software as a service instead of a program to be installed, which quickly made an impact in the United States.
Two years later, by the early 2000s, Benioff took on the role of president and CEO since he had founded the company along with three other people. 2003 was a key year for the company, as profits doubled. A year later, it went public, which resulted in several million dollars.
At the same time, Marc Benioff—who had a relationship with Steve Jobs—met with him again through an Apple presentation, and Jobs gave him advice on the Salesforce project. In 2006, the company launched a mechanism allowing clients to contact internal members of the organization directly, which facilitated and streamlined many processes.
In the following years, Salesforce launched several tools and company mechanisms to increase the level of clients, products, and services. By 2016, the company had already entered the field of artificial intelligence, a crucial topic today.
Purchase of Time
One of Benioff’s recent investments was the purchase, together with his wife, of Time magazine for $190 million. And like any entrepreneur, he wasted no time in founding a capital fund under Time’s name that includes several companies.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Benioff and his wife played a key role in healthcare assistance by investing in resources. Additionally, they donated several million dollars and helped transport medical supplies to other countries to support the situation.
He also has a foundation through his company Salesforce to support charitable causes. Using the name and recognition of the company, Marc’s commitment to social causes is strong and visible.
Marc Benioff’s career began at a very young age, even at 15, when he sold his app for $75. His education and experience from an early age took him through Apple, Oracle, and finally led him to create his company, Salesforce—a software service.Herramientas