MARC BENIOFF, cofounder and CEO of Salesforce, has taken a lot of hits in recent months. First, activist investors went after him, attacking his expensive taste in acquisitions and agitating for greater efficiency at the enterprise software maker. Then, his employees lashed out: After about 8,000 of them were laid off in January, many of those who remained took to Slack—ironically, one of Benioff’s expensive acquisitions—to complain that the company’s touchy-feely culture was just a facade.
“I’m willing to take the bullets and the cuts and the vilification,” Benioff, 58, tells me during a wide-ranging interview that took place via phone while he was on a flight to the East Coast. “That’s what you have to do as CEO, especially through difficult times.”
Luckily for Benioff, at least the numbers have been kind: In early March, Salesforce released its most recent quarterly results, beating analyst estimates and setting better-than-expected projections for its next fiscal year. Revenue in the company’s last quarter was up 14% year over year while adjusted margins (excluding things like $828 million in restructuring charges) rose to 29.2%, the highest in its 24-year history.
The earnings report was good news for Benioff and for his company’s stock price. But that doesn’t mean the longtime tech leader is in the clear. For starters, the current era
