Marc Benioff
He’s the CEO and co-founder of San Francisco-based Salesforce, one of the world’s largest software companies, which owns the popular messaging service Slack and is worth nearly $300 billion. He also owns Time magazine.
When I ask Benioff about the properties in the anonymous LLCs, things seem to take a turn. He starts speaking more quickly and fidgets with a piece of paper in his hand. He’s reluctant to go through the holdings, and his adviser on the Zoom call jumps in to say we can discuss later.
A couple of days before the interview, Benioff texted the same NPR colleague again, asking for intel on my story. Then he called me and demanded to know the title of this piece. During that call, he also mentioned he knew the exact area where I was staying. Unnerved, I asked how he knew, and he said, “It’s my job. You have a job and I have a job.” During the interview, he brings up more personal details about me and my family.
I leave the meeting disconcerted and still unclear about what exactly is happening with his land in Waimea.
The following day, I drive around with a photographer to take pictures of the town and Benioff’s projects. We go to the property he described as a community center and are confronted by one of his employees. The photographer explains we’re there to take photos of the outside of the building. Shortly afterward, I get a text from Benioff. His employee seemed to think we were “snooping,” and he says he’s escalating the incident to NPR CEO John Lansing. Lansing confirmed he spoke with Benioff, without going into detail — the NPR newsroom operates independently, and the CEO is not involved in editorial decision-making. Benioff didn’t respond to my question about the purpose of this call.
Bill Gates whose wife divorced him after it came out that he was on Epstein’s plane? Or Bill Gates who spent like 30 years building a monopoly on anti-competitive tactics and used that position to ground any contenders into dust?
Trying to karmicly balance decades of being a shit stain by switching to altruism once you’re old and rich isn’t the same as being a good person.
Yes, once you’re a bad person you’re always a bad person.
Again, it’s statements like this which are just ridiculous. People change and if you think Bill Gates is doing a shitty/bad thing then we’re fucked because of the lot he’s by far the most charitable and looking to make the world better.
He’s certainly done more than you or most people on the planet have done to help.
I’m not sure why you’re getting downvoted so much, but I’ll join you so you’re not alone.
I fully believe there should be no billionaires, but somehow suggesting one of them is at least attempting to improve some things seems to be an absolute sin. I don’t think Gates is a saint, but I do believe in a lot of the projects he’s working on.
I assure you a guy who wakes up every day and makes a decision not to end hunger and instead use his stolen wealth to destroy public school systems and buy good PR is not attempting to improve things.