Salesforce.com’s CEO, Marc Benioff, Makes $100 mil. Donation
Today, Salesforce.com’s CEO and chairman, Marc Benioff, donated $100 million to the University of California in San Francisco Children’s Hospital. This is a private donation from Benioff and his family, and is both the largest donation that they have ever given and the largest donation that UCSF Hospital has ever received.
The new children’s hospital will be named for the Benioff family. The Benioff hospital will be an expanded and updated version of the current hospital. Construction is set to be completed in 2014. There will be 183 beds, an on-site helipad, and cutting edge technology to help the critically ill children in the SF Bay Area get the attention and the care that they need. UCSF will also launch an interactive website for the hospital, which will be powered by Salesforce.com technology. The Benioffs will introduce the website today at Salesforce.com’s conference in San Jose.
“The Benioffs’ extraordinary generosity will have a direct impact on the many thousands of young patients cared for at UCSF Children’s Hospital each year,” said Mark Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children’s Hospital. “UCSF and the Benioffs share a commitment to performing at the very highest level, and we look forward to realizing our joint vision of creating the world’s most advanced children’s hospital at Mission Bay.”
This is not the first donation that the Benioff family has made to UCSF. Lynne and Marc Benioff have supported many research projects and have endowed four departamental chairs at the hospital. Lynne, Marc’s wife, is a member of the UCSF Board of Directors which explains their dedication and interest in the hospital, among other things.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com
The Benioff family is extremely dedicated to philanthropy in general. Marc has even written two books on integrating business and philanthropy. The first book is titled Compassionate Capitalism and the second is The Business of Changing the World. In both books, Marc emphasizes the importance of companies incorporating philanthropy into their business models because they have the power to change the world. Marc follows his business model with Salesforce.com. He has a 1/1/1 policy where 1% of the company’s time, 1% of its equity, and 1% of its products are given to the community. Salesforce.com has followed this model since its first year. The UCSF donations were not connected to Salesforce.com- it was completely out-of-pocket. Benioff’s generosity is both impressive and inspiring. He even says that he plans on donating a majority of his fortune in the future to the community.
Marc Benioff said, “In business, we say that people overestimate what you can do in a year and underestimate what you can do in a decade. This is true in philanthropy as well.”
The Salesforce.com CEO is following in Bill Gates steps as a major tech leader introducing the business industry to philanthropy. If more would follow in their footsteps, it is incredible how much could be accomplished. Major players in the technology business could change the world as we know it.
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