Marc Benioff is the founder, chair, and co-CEO of SalesForce. He’s worth billions of dollars.
But it’s not like he’s happy about it. Benioff, who enjoys a pretty sweet life as a result of capitalism, thinks “it’s time for a new capitalism”:
It’s time for a new capitalism — a more fair, equal & sustainable capitalism that actually works for everyone and where businesses, including tech companies, don’t just take from society but truly give back and have a positive impact. Values create value. https://t.co/4AQzBYS6hd
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) October 14, 2019
Benioff’s got some big ideas, folks:
To my fellow business leaders and billionaires, I say that we can no longer wash our hands of our responsibility for what people do with our products. Yes, profits are important, but so is society. And if our quest for greater profits leaves our world worse off than before, all we will have taught our children is the power of greed.
It’s time for a new capitalism — a more fair, equal and sustainable capitalism that actually works for everyone and where businesses, including tech companies, don’t just take from society but truly give back and have a positive impact.
…
That is why a new capitalism must also include a tax system that generates the resources we need and includes higher taxes on the wealthiest among us. Local efforts — like the tax I supported last year on San Francisco’s largest companies to address our city’s urgent homelessness crisis — will help [Editor’s note: Clearly throwing tons of money at San Francisco’s government has worked out well for the city]. Nationally, increasing taxes on high-income individuals like myself would help generate the trillions of dollars that we desperately need to improve education and health care and fight climate change [Editor’s note: Apparently Benioff missed the memo about just how many trillions of dollars it would actually take to fund Medicare for All, for example].
The culture of corporate America needs to change, and it shouldn’t take an act of Congress to do it. Every C.E.O. and every company must recognize that their responsibilities do not stop at the edge of the corporate campus. When we finally start focusing on stakeholder value as well as shareholder value, our companies will be more successful, our communities will be more equal, our societies will be more just and our planet will be healthier.
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Benioff also laments the effectively nonexistent gender wage gap, just to prove that he’s a super-serious person.
We’re all supposed to be very impressed by Benioff’s willingness to spurn capitalism in the name of a fairer society. But Carol Roth, for one, isn’t falling for Benioff’s shtick:
Shorter: Capitalism, which has made me wildly successful and provided others with jobs and created tons of value "doesn't work"– if you buy my book, via capitalism, I will tell you why! https://t.co/4FnXgQbbPV
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) October 21, 2019
This fake self-loathing billionaire capitalist shtick is beyond offensive.
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) October 21, 2019
You aren’t struck by those boldly vowing to be the last billionaire?
— Ed Gallagher (@ejgallagher1) October 21, 2019
Go figure!
He's such an insufferable moron. If he wants to redistribute his stock options to his employees he would have already done it. Instead I'll write a book on how awesome I am to signal my virtue. Most billionaires give to charity he's not the first.
— she/her (@wutang_capital) October 21, 2019
Seriously. As Benioff points out, he’s got more money than most people. What’s stopping him from giving it all away? Certainly not us. It’s almost as if he wants the adulation that goes along with rejecting capitalism without actually having to put his billions of dollars where his mouth is.
US billionaires railing on capitalism is the equivalent of the hot girl saying "women's looks don't matter". Just stop.
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) October 21, 2019
Amen. Please stop.
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