Who Owns Salesforce?

Customer Relationship Management is an essential part of businesses. It paves the turning point for business organizations struggling with a poor customer base and sales management.

When discussing CRM, Salesforce is the first thing that crosses our minds. It is because of its leadership in Customer Relationship Management. It has a reputation for improving the customer relationships of organizations and enhancing their sales, marketing, and services.

Salesforce has moved to the top position drastically. It might make you wonder which hands are behind its success. You have come to the right place if you know who owns Salesforce. Here we have brought you a discussion on the founder and creator of Salesforce to quench your curiosity.

About the Founder

Marc Benioff is the founder of Salesforce. He is also the CEO and chairman of the no. 1 CRM leader. He is considered a cloud computing pioneer, which explains the idea behind Salesforce as a cloud-computing CRM software.

Marc Benioff laid the foundation of Salesforce in the year 1999. He was titled the ‘Innovator of the Decade’  by Forbes for his accomplishment as a founder of a leading CRM firm.

Besides, he is also an honorable holder of several titles and recognitions. Benioff is the CNN Business CEO of 2020, one of the world’s 25 greatest leaders, and one of the 10 best-performing CEOs.

He has also received many awards for contributing to several fields besides Salesforce. Benioff’s voice for equality has earned him recognition from GLAAD and the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative. He has also received Variety Magazine with its EmPOWerment Award.

Marc Benioff is also recognized as a highly charitable being. He has donated to several causes hand in hand with his wife, Lynne. Some of his charitable contributions include a donation to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. It is a part of the University of California, San Francisco, extending its hands to Oakland.

Being a former student of the University of California, where he received a B.S. in business administration, Marc Benioff makes it to its board of trustees. He is also the person behind establishing the Benioff Ocean Initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Besides, the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, the UCSF Benioff Initiative for Prostate Cancer Research, the UCSF Benioff Centre for Microbiome Medicine, and the Stanford Microbiome Therapies Initiative are also a result of his efforts.

A lot is making it to the success list of Marc Benioff. His vice presidency and 13 years at Oracle are also a part of it. As the base of Salesforce, Marc Benioff is the creator behind the 1-1-1 model of philanthropy. It is how he has taken Salesforce to great heights.

Partners with Salesforce

Salesforce has other shareholders besides Marc Benioff as its CEO and chair. Bret Taylor was another CEO of this leading CRM firm until he resigned a few months back. The annual reports of 31st January 2022 state that the company has 450 registered stockholders.

The Depository Trust Company has a significant part of the stocks of Salesforce. It is a firm common to many shareholders of the organization. Marc Benioff holds 2.78 % of the stakes of Salesforce as a non-institutional stockholder.

Besides, other stockholders make it to the list of insiders and institutions. The institutions mainly include asset management companies, hedge funds, brokerage firms, pension funds, and many more.

The biggest shareholders among the institutions are The Vanguard Group, Fidelity Management and Research, and State Street. On the other hand, the insider group includes Marc Benioff, Bret Taylor, and Craig Ramsey.

What Makes Salesforce the Best CRM Software?

Under Marc Benioff's leadership, Salesforce is the no. 1 CRM software. The firm's mastermind provides several reasons why it stands as the best CRM software.

The first and foremost thing that Salesforce excels at is its cloud-based approach. It implements cloud features for customer relationship management. This saves a lot on infrastructure management, which is a must for on-premise CRM software.

Salesforce has also launched a mobile application, which simplifies things further. Companies employing Salesforce CRM can enjoy the advantages of using its services anytime and anywhere. Salesforce1 is the mobile application that makes it possible. It is easy to use and comes with full-fledged features of CRM.

The company uses cutting-edge technologies to make CRM even more productive for businesses. It implements Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, analytics, and other customization tools to improve sales, marketing, and services.

Moreover, the fact that it is a cloud-based platform makes it maintenance-free. Companies do not need to invest in IT services or infrastructure as the cloud system does not require one. The revenue can eventually go to improving the solutions and products of the brand.

Above all, Salesforce values customers. This creates effective solutions, considering customer interactions and behavior with the brand. Apart from this, there is only one better platform for enhancing the sales of businesses than Salesforce.

Conclusion

Salesforce stands as a winner among all CRM platforms. Several factors make it the best CRM software. The major contribution to the firm comes from its CEO and chair, Marc Benioff, who owns Salesforce. He has his creative hands behind the success of Salesforce and many great initiatives benefiting people. So, you can read more about the great personality and Salesforce and see how it can help your business.