San Francisco-based CEO says city doesn't take safety 'seriously' when it's not hosting elite event
Tech mogul Marc Benioff asked, ‘Why can’t they do it every day?’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A high-powered San Francisco tech mogul called out the city for not always taking safety as "seriously" as it does when it's hosting an annual multi-million dollar event.
"When the city of San Francisco wants to look good and look shiny and safe, it can do it," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff remarked at the 2023 Dreamforce conference. He confessed to "putting a lot of pressure on the city" to clean up the streets ahead of the event, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
"It looks great. It looks very safe right now. Unfortunately the city doesn’t always take itself as seriously as it does during Dreamforce," he told reporters. "If they can do it for Dreamforce, why can’t they do it every day?"
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Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce.com Inc.,told reporters at the 2023 Dreamforce conference that the city should make the same effort to keep the city safe and clean when it's not holding the tech conference. (Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The billionaire Salesforce executive again called out the city's safety problems in a conversation with Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom during an event at the conference this week.
He told Newsom that he received "worried calls" after publicly stating he was considering moving the annual conference due to the homelessness and drug problems San Francisco is facing. He admitted noticing how the city ramped up cleanliness and safety efforts just in time for the conference.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Then everything is perfect, spiffy, cleaned up," he said. "I went down Howard Street. Did they pour new cement? … You can eat off the sidewalk, it’s incredible," he told the governor.
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Homeless people are seen on streets of the Tenderloin district in San Francisco, California, United States on October 30, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Newsom, who has a personal relationship with the tech mogul, retorted with a tongue-in-cheek remark about how lucrative the event was for the city. "Because we're sucking up to you. We can't afford to lose you," he said according to The San Francisco Standard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Salesforce has hosted the software company’s Dreamforce event for many years in San Francisco, where its headquarters are located.
Moving the annual tech event would be "an economic punch to San Francisco," the SF Chronicle reported. Salesforce has projected the conference to generate nearly $90 million for the city this year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Attendees during the 2023 Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The tech mogul's comments came after several major businesses announced they were leaving the city's downtown area, citing problems with shoplifting and safety concerns.
Clothing retailer American Eagle also filed a lawsuit against the city's Westfield Mall this week, saying it allowed the location to "deteriorate into disarray" and failed to protect employees from "gun violence, physical assaults, burglaries, and robberies," according to the Chronicle.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Francisco's downtown area has faced an exodus due to safety concerns (Getty Images)
Democratic leaders Mayor London Breed and Governor Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the mayor's office told the Chronicle, they work "very hard to make all of our conventions a clean and welcoming experience for people who are coming to San Francisco."
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Fox Business' Aislinn Murphy and Jeffrey Clark contributed to this article.