#Marc Benioff

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ahmed Baba:

After Donald Trump won in 2016, there was shock and widespread resistance as Democrats, foreign leaders, and the business world grappled with the unexpected. Now, a decade into the Trump era, there is a pervasive understanding of how he operates. This transactional President-elect is easily influenced by money, flattery, and displays of obedience. Post-2024 election, efforts to manipulate and appease Trump are already underway. Multiple foreign leaders, business executives, media outlets, and even some Democrats are seeking to cozy up to Trump in an effort to garner favorable treatment or to avoid retribution. There’s a fine line between appeasing Trump for existential reasons, as foreign leaders are understandably doing, and publicly bending the knee out of self-interest in a way that emboldens a wannabe authoritarian. The latter is what’s happening with some business leaders and media outlets.

New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg has called this “the Great Capitulation.” While a lot of this is certainly capitulation, it’s also the kind of classic corruption, influence-peddling, and cronyism I wrote about in my recent article. But these efforts will only yield short-term results, as they enable a president with authoritarian ambitions.

Let’s start with the CEOs who have made quick moves to get on Trump’s good side. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are donating $1 million each to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. Zuckerberg, who Trump previously threatened to jail, went as far as to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago, dine with him, and reportedly held his hand over his heart as a version of the national anthem sung by the January 6 choir played.

These donations to Trump go far beyond simply showing support in exchange for the incoming windfall the renewal of the Trump tax cuts will give them. Trump has had a contentious relationship with Zuckerberg and Bezos in the past, and Altman’s OpenAI has an ongoing lawsuit with Elon Musk. Bezos is also likely seeking expanded subsidies for his space company, Blue Origin, which competes for government money with Musk’s SpaceX. All of these companies will be impacted by the regulatory environment or lack thereof, the Trump Administration implements.

Earlier this month, Jeff Bezos attended The New York Times’ Dealbook Summit and told Andrew Ross Sorkin he’s hopeful about the Trump Administration, specifically due to deregulation: “I’m actually very optimistic this time around. ... I’m very hopeful about his — he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. My point of view, if I can help him do that, I’m gonna help him.”

Billionaires clearly see themselves as beneficiaries of the incoming Trump Administration, just like the first term. Except this time, they aren’t doing any initial performative opposition to Trump and are openly embracing him from the start. They appear to believe they’ll thrive in the oligarchic system Trump is seeking to cultivate, but authoritarianism doesn’t end well for anyone, as historian and authoritarian expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat pointed out in her latest piece. But nonetheless, the people who actually have the means to withstand Trump’s wrath are kissing his ring. An instance where a billionaire and media outlet currying favor with Trump intersect is TIME Magazine. The outlet still has phenomenal journalists, but its owner just undercut their journalistic integrity. Last week, TIME Magazine declared Trump its “Person of the Year” and published an unhinged interview, which, of course, isn’t unusual or worthy of criticism. What’s unusual is the fact that Trump celebrated it by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and TIME owner and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff enthusiastically congratulated him.

Naming someone TIME’s “Person of the Year” doesn’t automatically indicate it’s an endorsement. That person may simply have been the most influential and not necessarily a good person. For example, in 1938, TIME named Adolf Hitler, and it was far from an endorsement. However, when it comes to Trump, Benioff removed any doubt that this cover was, in fact, an endorsement. We’ve seen a lot of obedience in advance from far too many media outlets, as historian Timothy Snyder puts it. From Bezos blocking The Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris to a similar move at the Los Angeles Times, this was happening even before Trump won. Now, it’s kicking into a higher gear as Trump ramps up his threats against the media, feeling empowered by a recent unexpected legal win.

ABC News sent a jolt through the media ecosystem when they decided to settle a defamation suit with Trump that they could’ve won. ABC News, which is owned by Disney, came to a $15 million agreement after Trump sued over statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos. When covering the E. Jean Carroll case, Stephanopoulos said that Trump was found liable for “rape,” even though the official ruling found him liable for sexual abuse. 

[...] This ABC settlement has clearly made Trump feel empowered. In a press conference on Monday, Trump mused about how he plans to sue more media companies, specifically calling out The Des Moines Register for their Ann Selzer poll that erroneously found Harris winning Iowa. On Monday night, Trump made good on his threat, filing a lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and its parent company, Gannet, claiming fraud and election interference. So, Trump has sued a news organization for simply publishing a poll. It’s an unbelievable overreach. Make no mistake, this is meant to scare not only mainstream media outlets but also independent media and individual journalists who have fewer legal resources. We can’t let his threats change our coverage of the truth. Fearless media will be increasingly necessary over the coming years.

[...] During Trump’s first term, when he met resistance to his crazy proposals, he would soon get distracted and move on to another fight - with the plot to overturn the 2020 election being the exception to this. If Trump’s authoritarian maneuvers are enabled with zero pushback in a second term, from both within and outside of his administration, we will surely see more of them. Pushing back is a necessity. There are going to be plenty of junctures during the second Trump Administration when it’ll be easier to look the other way from an authoritarian action. There will be moments when appeasing him is the path of least resistance, and the fear of retribution feels insurmountable. But it’s in those moments when it matters most to speak out.

What we need right now is courage. We need business leaders to put their country over their short-term profits and actually embrace the principles they once claimed to have. We need journalists to remain fearless and steadfast in what will be a tumultuous four years for press freedom. We need Democrats to act like a real opposition party, both at the federal and state level, and refuse to yield to Trump’s extremist agenda. And we need everyday Americans to not give up on advocating for a better America. [...] Unfortunately, as I’ve outlined in this piece, many people and organizations are falling in line instead of standing their ground. And we’re already seeing some influential content creators who made their name as anti-Trumpers beginning to make their pivot to a pro-MAGA stance. I won’t name names because I don’t want to feed their clout chase, but you’ve likely heard of them.

Ahmed Baba has a well-written piece on how anti-Trump forces should show real courage and not fold like cheap suits in how to respond to his 2nd term.

[youthchronical]

Bret Taylor’s AI startup Sierra raises funding at $4.5 billion valuation

Artificial intelligence startup Sierra, co-founded by ex-Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, is more than quadrupling its valuation to $4.5 billion in a fresh funding round. The San Francisco-based company, which was valued at $1 billion in January, raised $175 million in a funding round led by Greenoaks Capital. The Information reported earlier this month that Sierra was in the midst of raising…

[secretstalks]

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Proclaims: 'The World is Shifting Towards the Indian Era'

At the annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff declared that the world is entering an “Indian era,” highlighting India's growing global significance. He noted, “There is no denying that India is about to enter a truly remarkable period. It’s a really exciting opportunity, as you can see.”

Benioff expressed strong confidence in Salesforce's expansion in India, where the company has over 11,000 employees. He emphasized the critical role of Indian operations in engineering and market engagement, pointing to major clients like the Bajaj Group. He praised Arundhati Bhattacharya, former SBI Chairperson and now head of Salesforce India, for her leadership in driving this growth. While Benioff did not disclose specific workforce expansion plans, he underscored India’s vital importance in Salesforce’s future strategy.

Additionally, Salesforce introduced its partner network, which includes industry giants like AWS, Google, IBM, and Workday, as well as "Agentforce," an autonomous AI tool aimed at optimizing business processes. He highlighted a collaboration with NVIDIA to provide advanced autonomous AI agents for enterprise applications.

Benioff predicted that these innovations would transform sales, marketing, and commerce, describing them as a significant leap beyond traditional chatbots. Addressing concerns about potential job losses due to AI, he reassured that there are pathways for workforce transition, noting that some companies have already successfully navigated this change.

To further strengthen its presence in India, Salesforce announced the appointment of Rahul Dravid, the celebrated Indian cricket star, as its first brand ambassador. Dravid will help Indian businesses leverage the Salesforce CRM platform to foster growth, aligning with the “Growing With India” campaign that promotes Salesforce’s comprehensive, user-friendly CRM solutions designed to elevate Indian enterprises.

READ MORE

[toyotabedzrock]

Billionaire Marc Benioff is buying up land in Hawaii. And no one knows why : NPR

Billionaire Marc Benioff is buying up land in Hawaii. And no one knows why : NPR https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1232564250/billionaire-benioff-buys-hawaii-land-salesforce

[wocado]

The secret to successful hiring ~ @Benioff

The secret to successful hiring is this:

success, success quotes, change quotes, change, change the world, hiring, hiring quotes, change the world quotes, Marc Benioff, Marc Benioff quotes #PICTUREQUOTES, #QUOTES

[justwatchmyeyes]

“The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce

[reportwire]

Cramer sees a 'good chance' Salesforce's Benioff will soon announce succession plans

Jim Cramer suggested Saturday that plans for a leadership change at Club holding Salesforce (CRM) — helmed by co-founder Marc Benioff for more than two decades — may be disclosed in the near future. “There will be a good chance that Marc will [soon] announce a successor or Marc will announce that he will [only] be chairman,” Jim said Saturday during the Club’s first-ever “Annual Meeting” in New…

[darktimemachinechaos]

Henry ha deciso di suicidarsi alla vigilia del suo compleanno e il suo psichiatra cerca di fargli cambiare idea; l'analisi di Henry ha conseguenze sempre più inquietanti sulla vita di Sam.

Il film narra di come vengano vissute le relazioni intense andandosi ad incentrare sulla realtà, sull'amore, sulla morte, sul suicidio e sull'aldilà.

Stay - Nel labirinto della mente (2005), dir. Marc Forster

[milliondollarbaby87]

Stay (2005) Review

When Sam Foster a psychiatrist takes over the case of Henry Letham he must attempt to stop him from committing suicide while attempting to keep a grip on his own reality. ⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Untitled

[mirrorreview]

Marc Benioff, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce is not only a successful entrepreneur but also a renowned philanthropist. His company Salesforce, founded in March 1999, is one of the fastest-growing cloud companies and is the first cloud company to cross the mark of $ 5 Billion in revenue.

[youthchronical]

Marc Benioff is in talks to sell media company Time to Antenna Group

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff attends the TIME100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on April 26, 2023. Dimitrios Kambouris | Getty Images Greek media company the Antenna Group is in talks to acquire fellow media company Time from Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff, according to people familiar with the matter. No deal is assured and the talks are still early, said the people, who asked…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Altman has had a career that any Silicon Valley exec would absolutely kill for, and he hasn’t accomplished a single worthwhile thing. He founded one failed company, ran a factory that bought predatory amounts of equity for virtually nothing from every Stanford dropout with an idea for software to replace something Mommy used to do, then founded a company to build a product that he himself believes could eventually destroy humanity. He managed to do such a bad job organizing that company that he nearly got it taken away from him by the guy who runs the Christian babies Q&A site and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s wife before he was rescued by a nightmare blunt rotation of Microsoft, Marc Benioff’s Number One Boy, and Larry Fucking Summers. And the Quora guy even got to stick around! -Today in Tabs

[olowan-waphiya]

Billionaire Marc Benioff is buying up land in Hawaii. And no one knows why

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1232564250/billionaire-benioff-buys-hawaii-land-salesforce

it keeps going but i’m going to say the reason is the same that its been since colonialism first began—they ‘buy’ indigenous land to escape the environmental degradation that they are in large part responsible for & to horde and grow power, wealth, resources because that is all they know how to do. this is the legacy of the usa and what it celebrates.

these human dragons need to be fought.