Our big message is that we live in this nirvana. . . . But don t think we re not going to ask you to give. We want you to give, and we want you to make it part of your company.
– Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com CEO, telling Bloomberg Businessweek about his campaign to boost charitable giving by tech companies. The organization, SF Gives, aims to raise $10 million from San Francisco tech companies to help the Bay Area s neediest. While the tech industry has come under fire for not giving back to their communities, Benioff has embraced his role as a philanthropist, giving more than $200 million to local children s hospitals over the past five years. Benioff tells Bloomberg that not only can tech companies damn well afford it, it s their civic duty to give back.
At top: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff delivers a keynote address during the 2014 DreamForce conference on October 14, 2014 in San Francisco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
