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

---

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)

@Axad12: Thanks for your reply! Looking through the article edit history, it looks like the current Philanthropy and Social activism sections have been put together over the past 8 years through collaborative efforts among editors including Likeanechointheforest, Justanothersgwikieditor, Hotplategurle, Esquire41, Avvincen, Davidmith, and Gjb0zWxOb, as well as Duke Gilmore implementing an edit request from another COI editor in early 2023. Happy to work on shortened versions of these sections, but want to give these contributors a chance to weigh in as well so as not to override community consensus.

Also, from what I gather, fairly detailed philanthropy and political sections are fairly common in articles about comparable figures – e.g. Reid Hoffman, Mark Zuckerberg, Robert F. Smith, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison. Given these precedents, I welcome any more specific thoughts on what you believe should be cut. Thanks again! Mary Gaulke (talk) 19:26, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

The fact that there is WP:UNDUE coverage in other articles is not an argument for there to be WP:UNDUE coverage in this one, it is an argument for the WP:UNDUE coverage elsewhere to be reduced. However, I've no doubt that you knew that already.

Also, I wouldn't take it as a matter of established fact that those who added to the Philanthropy and Activism sections in this article a long time ago will necessarily agree with it's current very extended form. Therefore your claim that there is a community consensus in that regard is clearly bogus. On the contrary, I note for example that only in August '24 did user:Rusalkii state 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. Interestingly you omitted Rusalkii from your list of editors above.

Also, with regard to the editors who did make it onto your list, one of them has only 7 edits to their name, one only has 24, and another is a WP:SPA all of whose 22 edits relate to the present article, and who was presumably an undisclosed paid editor of some kind. Some of the names on the list haven't edited on Wikipedia for some years.

As recently as March 2022 the Philanthropy section was only 11 lines long. It is now 3 times that long, and longer even that the Career section. So, the idea that there is WP:UNDUE length devoted to the Philanthropy section seems perfectly obvious.

As I said above, I invite you to draw up a proposal to truncate [the relevant sections] dramatically. I would suggest that you refrain from playing games in this regard as I note that it is not only myself who has suggested in the recent past (on another article) that you have a habit of making promotional edit requests which waste volunteer time. See, for example the comment here [1] by user:Bon courage on another article where an identical sentiment was expressed. Axad12 (talk) 20:07, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

I'd also suggest that your post above was an attempt at votestacking, i.e. an attempt to sway consensus by selectively notifying editors who have or are thought to have a predetermined point of view or opinion [...], and thus encouraging them to participate in the discussion. For which see WP:CANVASS and WP:VOTESTACKING.

Two experienced editors who regularly deal with COI requests have already given you their (very similar) opinions on the edit request above and the issue in relation to the sections under discussion. Your attempt to summon a collection of (in some cases) dormant and/or very inexperienced and/or WP:UPE editors was a clear attempt to subvert the current consensus in a way that sits well outside of the relevant policies and guidelines. Axad12 (talk) 20:39, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

Unless I misunderstood, your initial response above – "The Philanthropy and Social Activism sections of this article are far too long." – was a comment on the current Philanthropy and Social activism sections in the article, beyond anything in my edit request (which did not touch on the Social activism section). I used Who Wrote That? to identify editors who'd contributed to those sections, which is who I tagged in case they had a POV on the question of what of the current contents to cut and wanted to weigh in. I didn't consider that canvassing, but will certainly avoid doing so in the future now knowing it can be perceived that way. I did shorten my initial requests per Rusalkii's feedback above, and, as I noted above, pinged them a few times to hear any other feedback from them before the request was closed by you. I did not tag them a third time because they were not a contributor to the sections you criticized. Mary Gaulke (talk) 00:11, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

The fact that I had said that the current sections were clearly too long demonstrates that I was against making further additions to either of those sections. That was notified to you by the response above commencing “Not Done”. Quibbling on the semantics of that is just wasting of volunteer time.

I think my positions on the current sections and the edit request above are clear. If no newly opened COI edit request is received by the end of the month, including a proposal to significantly abbreviate the two sections, then I shall reduce them myself to a scope that I consider to be WP:DUE.

I don’t see that there can be any real doubt that your earlier post was indeed canvassing, given that you said that you want to give these contributors a chance to weigh in, claiming falsely that their assumed opinions represented a consensus on the current state of the article. This is all the more the case given that you neglected to summon various editors who had removed material from the relevant sections, whom I will not list here (for fear of canvassing) but will simply mention that they include a longstanding and very highly regarded administrator and several other very experienced users accustomed to dealing with CoI editing.

Inviting only those who have added material (and therefore can be assumed to agree with you), and failing to (very easily) identify and invite those who have removed material (and therefore can be assumed to disagree with you), is the very definition of canvassing. If you can’t see that that is canvassing then there is something wrong.

As you know, I object to your standard tactic of trying to see how much promotionalism you can get away with, plus accompanying wasting of volunteer time and, as per your earlier post (the one including votestacking), questioning of decisions by WP:SEALIONING for pay. If there is any further repetition of these kinds of disruptive editing, or further canvassing or any other inappropriate activity then I will take steps to request that sanctions are placed on your account. Axad12 (talk) 06:12, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

COI edit request: revised Philanthropy + Social activism sections

Hello, I'm a COI editor for Salesforce. Per Axad12's feedback above, proposing shortened text for the Philanthropy and Social activism sections of this article. The proposal below also incorporates a small amount of content from my original request above and moves two sentences from the end of the Career section ("A 2024 investigation...regarding rising housing prices.") into the proposed Hawaii subsection. If there's another format that's preferred for reviewing this, please just let me know and I'm happy to update. I'm also happy to revise based on any other feedback.

Philanthropy

When 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 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 2016, Benioff announced a $10 million donation to the University of California at Santa Barbara to establish the Benioff Ocean Initiative. 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. 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 2021, Benioff pledged a $200 million donation to plant trees and fund ecologically focused entrepreneurs.

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.

Hawaii

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. 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. 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. In March 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.

Social activism

LGBTQ issues

In March 2015, Benioff led an effort of business leaders fighting against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill that would allow companies and individuals to choose not to serve LGBT individuals based on religious beliefs, ultimately leading to a revised version of the bill that prohibited businesses from denying services to someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

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. The governor vetoed the bill.

Gender pay gap

In April 2015, after the issue was raised by Salesforce chief personnel officer Cindy Robbins, Benioff announced that he would review salaries at Salesforce to ensure men and women were paid equally. He subsequently dedicated $3 million in 2015 to correct the discrepancy, and another $3 million in 2017 to “correct compensation differences by gender, race, and ethnicity across the company”.

Homelessness in San Francisco

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. 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.

In July 2023, Benioff stated that San Francisco "will never go back to the way it was before the pandemic" and recommended that city leadership convert old office space into housing and hire more police. He used his platform on X to call for “refunding the police” numerous times between September and November 2023.

Sources

Thank you for your time. Mary Gaulke (talk) 15:25, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: The Philanthropy section currently has 521 words, your revised section has 443 words.

The Social Activism section currently has 350 words, your revised section has 278 words.

As I said before "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".

The request above is simply further waste of volunteer time and a further attempt at promotion - both of which activities you have been warned about several times now. Axad12 (talk) 15:47, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Just a brief note to say that I've now removed the entirety of the two sections, as it had become clear that until that occurred there was no reason for you to engage responsibly in trying to get the relevant sections down to an appropriate and non-promotional length. Axad12 (talk) 06:26, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

Replying to @Axad12's edit description - I don't see a public thank you for your work on this page anywhere, you'll have to point that specific recognition out to me. Also, doesn't mean you are right - I don't care if you got 10 awards, it is a bad edit. Only thing I see on your Wiki page is a few barn star awards and faking a Wikibreak.

From what I read here, you asked @MaryGaulke three different times to change her edit requests - moving the goalpost each time when she didn't meet your demands (which initially, were correct, I'm not arguing with you there). You then followed her to different pages, and then when she didn't respond in the arbitrary time period you gave her here, you ignored your own directions, took the lazy route and deleted everything (instead of actually doing the work to review everything for WP:RS), and then added a bunch of nonsense information to add new WP:UNDUE to the page (CEOs fire people callously every day, who cares if they felt bad or people noticed; if that was notable, it would be the only thing on any CEOs page).

(I also disagree with the notion that tagging other editors who worked on a section over a long period of time as WP:SEALION behavior - but not really the point here, and something I'm not interested in debating, because it can be resolved through content edits).

Again, I agree that these sections of Marc's page were way too long and needed to be cut down (which is what I was trying to do when you interrupted my edits), but you are clearly ignoring your own direction to make overreaching edits (also removing his woke/DEI policies, which are well-reported from reliable sources and should be noted here; those are notable). I am restoring this information again, and will edit it down properly. I encourage you to wait until those edits are complete, and then you can make your argument for why my edits don't satisfy your ever-changing requirements, and we can try to reach an actual consensus. Zachomatic (talk) 11:13, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

If you're going to play immediately failing to assume good faith in others then I'll refer you to Useful idiot. In fact, that may actually be a complementary term in your case as the alternative would be to accuse you of being a blatant stooge working for a large global PR company. Your grossly offensive response above is a disgraceful and ridiculous escalation when I had attempted reasonable discussion at your talk page. Axad12 (talk) 11:30, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

So now you call me an idiot, and then also accuse me of being a stooge working for a huge PR company and you're the one who is offended? Unfortunately, I don't make the big bucks to work on Wikipedia, like Mary and others do - also, the idea that my disagreeing with your edits and asking for verification on a thank you I don't see anywhere is a "disgraceful and ridiculous escalation" is laughable; all I asked was for you to let me edit the page neutrally, since your discussion with Mary and subsequent edits showed a clear lack of neutrality (which you even admit was not an ideal edit - so why make it?).

I don't need to immediately assume bad faith; once I reviewed the sweeping deletion edit you made and the preceding conversations with Mary (on this Talk page, and another) it seemed clear you were not interacting with them in the best interest of having quality, neutral and notable content on the page. Otherwise, you would've taken the time to do what you demanded of other editors, and take the time - like I am now - to review each citation and the corresponding content on Wikipedia. It's really not that deep; my intention is not to offend you or defend Mary - this is not a "ad hominem" attack, it's just about content edits and being a decent Wikipedian, which I see less and less of each day on here. Zachomatic (talk) 11:50, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

You do need to assume good faith, that is a basic requirement on Wikipedia, as per WP:AGF. Editors should not enter discussions by making multiple allegations of bad faith that are entirely unrelated to the issue under discussion (e.g. that I follow Mary Gaulke around - I do not - and that I faked a Wikibreak - I did not - and I could go on).

If you aren't prepared to engage in civil good faith discussion then you can hardly accuse others for following your own lead.

I suggest it would be more practical to continue this discussion at your talkpage. Axad12 (talk) 12:00, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

Good point. I will continue to review, remove and update information from Marc's page when I have time, but I absolutely agree we can discuss the other elements of our comments on my Talk page. Zachomatic (talk) 12:08, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

Attempt to reach consensus on scale of Philanthropy etc sections

Following on from discussion above re: the length of the ‘Philanthropy’ and ‘Social Activism’ sections, I thought it might be useful to try to reach some form of consensus.

I’m therefore pinging MaryGaulke (the COI editor whose request initially prompted the discussion), Rusalkii (who initially turned it down), plus various uninvolved editors who frequently deal with COI edit requests, namely Encoded, likeanechointheforest, STEMinfo and OXYLYPSE. Also Zachomatic who has recently worked to reduce the length of the relevant sections. Other editors are of course very welcome to add their own thoughts. If I’ve been remiss in omitting you from the list above then I apologise.

Hopefully I can compress the relevant points in an even-handed fashion as follows:

The issue at stake here is not whether the material in the relevant sections is true or correctly sourced but whether the amount of coverage is WP:DUE in the broader context of the article. The Philanthropy and Social Activism sections currently make up 40% of the article word count, significantly outweighing the Career section of the article (28% of the wordcount). The simple question is: Is that WP:DUE coverage in WP:PROPORTION to their overall significance to the notability of the subject.

As a brief note, and for balance, I’d add that it’s not uncommon for prominent US entrepreneurs to have significant Philanthropy/Politics sections in their articles (usually cultivated over time, as here, by declared or undeclared COI editors). However, the argument that this information should exist here, because it exists in article x isn’t relevant to this discussion, as per WP:OTHERCONTENT. The issue at stake is simply whether the level of coverage of Philanthropy & Social Activism in this article is appropriate.

For what it’s worth, my feeling is that the Philanthropy and Social Activism sections combined should not be longer than the Career section. That seems to me to be a reasonable definition of treat[ing] each aspect with a weight proportional to its treatment in the body of reliable, published material on the subject. Inevitably the Career section details the info for which Mark Benioff is primarily notable. One possible way to make the Philanthropy etc coverage WP:DUE / in WP:PROPORTION would thus be for the COI editor to propose further additions to the Career section, rather than for removals to be made to the Philanthropy etc sections.

I’m not overly troubled which way the consensus falls on this, but I feel it would be useful to have a consensus for the future development of this article, if only to avoid future disagreement. Any comments to help develop such a consensus would thus be very welcome. Axad12 (talk) 06:08, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

P.S.: To hopefully allay any concerns on canvassing, I should probably mention that the users mentioned in the post above do not include the user who sent me H:THANKS for my contribution to the previous discussion. Axad12 (talk) 06:22, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

Responding to ping. I read the multiple preceding discussions as well as the discussion on Zachomatic's talk page. I agree with Axad12's concerns that an article can be made somewhat one-sided if a pr team works to add only positive info. But that can happen in any article, without anyone having to post a coi request. If we start to limit the amount of notable info that is allowed, paid editors will have incentive to circumvent the process and edit themselves, and the problem will only get worse. At least Mary is being transparent and trying to follow the rules. I think that if an act of charity is noteworthy and covered in the news, it should be included. If a billionaire philanthropist does ten times as much as a hundred millionaire philanthropist, but the donations/charitable acts are all covered with reliable sources and are shown to be noteworthy, then they should be in the article. Another way to look at this is to consider an actor's filmography, a musician's discography, or another artist's output. We wouldn't limit including noteworthy items on the list just because the person was prolific. I recommend we include everything that is notable and not try to set an artificial quota. If something isn't notable, it doesn't get added. Simple. The only way to ensure balance is to do what Axad12 did by adding the news of the Salesforce layoffs. No employee or pr person is going to add anything negative. They'd lose their job. We have to look for negative missing info, as long as it is also newsworthy. It's not punitive - it's just managing the articles and making them balanced. We don't have to discuss it here but perhaps we might require some kind of WP:QPQ for disclosed paid editors, to contribute back to the encyclopedia as a way to thank the volunteers that helped them. Then maybe Axad12 won't feel so burned out. STEMinfo (talk) 08:32, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

Thanks @Axad12 for opening this new discussion - I've taken a couple weeks to do some reading on Benioff and dig through Mary's recent proposals. I would agree with you @STEMinfo - I think notability is notability, for better or worse, my umbrage mostly came from entire sections being deleted and replaced with negative information in what seemed explicitly punitive (though through our discussions, I obviously learned this was not the intent).

I have been taking the time to read some of the suggested citations in the requests; I agree with Axad we don't need to add most of that information, but some of the context around Benioff's Hawaii purchases is definitely important, which I'm going to add now.

I also find it interesting pages like Oprah and Larry Ellison barely mention them building entire Hawaiin islands strictly for themselves - at least it is on Zuckerberg's page, because what he did to locals there was disgusting. Different conversations for different pages, of course, but again shows why the context around those land purchases are important, and that some work may need to be done across Wikipedia to add some anthropological context to these billionaire purchases. Zachomatic (talk) 11:19, 18 December 2024 (UTC)

I've been entirely disengaged from this thread since opening it some while ago, but I would comment as follows...

I broadly speaking agree with STEMinfo's position but I'm afraid that I disagree with the idea of comparing the section on (for example) an actor's film output with the section on a businessman's philanthropy. The relevant comparison there would clearly by the actor's film output vs the businessman's business career. In neither case would a philanthropy/social activism section in such an article reasonably be larger than the section including the material for which the subject is primarily notable.

I would also add that just because an act of philanthropy is covered in the news does not imply that it is encyclopaedic information worthy of inclusion. These philanthropy mentions in the media are essentially brief items in relation to isolated acts - and it is relevant to note that Mr Benioff's business career is very much not covered in the Wiki-article in that level of detail (although it very easily could be covered in that way if the COI editor wished to do so). Thus the reasonable conclusion is that Mr Benioff's on-wiki publicists are pursuing an agenda whereby philanthropic matters are being given disproportionate coverage compared to business matters. That is the fundamental issue that I see as problematic re: the present composition of this article.

However, all of the above said, I do welcome the agreement with the point that I made at Zachomatic's talkpage, i.e. that when articles are curated by publicists it is important to try to locate material to give a balanced representation of coverage within the media, which was what I was trying to do with the material re: the mass lay-off. I'm glad to see that that material remains within the article as it does contribute a degree of balance.

Thank you both for your comments above.

Regards, Axad12 (talk) 12:09, 18 December 2024 (UTC)

Early life/ethnic background

Marc Benioff was raised in a Jewish family.[2]https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/jewish-philanthropy-2-0/[3]https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/jews-take-5-of-top-6-spots-in-annual-list-of-top-us-givers This is important to note for biographical purposes, in the same way that the ethnic background of Donald Trump is proven to be of German and Scottish descent.Donald Trump The explicit exclusion of Jewish descent in this Wikipedia article and others like it is antisemitic. 142.79.74.216 (talk) 23:43, 19 December 2024 (UTC)

Those sources indicate he is Jewish, but not that he was "raised in a Jewish family"; there is a difference. Why have you (and some other random IP) come here only to insert this into this article? --ZimZalaBim ^talk 02:52, 20 December 2024 (UTC)

Multiple IPs have been edit warring. We don't have sources that say he was raised in a Jewish family, and I honestly don't know why that's even relevent to mention at all. --ZimZalaBim ^talk 18:07, 24 December 2024 (UTC)