To be clear, he’s not actually going to do it. “I will never buy Twitter,” Benioff told Harlow. “Because I want something doesn’t mean I’m going to have it…I would like to go have a sundae right now with three scoops of ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream and a cherry. But I’m not going to have it.”
Benioff added that he still thinks Twitter “is the greatest, most unrealized, most un-monetized brand” in tech and that “it’s an amazing company, amazing brand, amazing platform and can do incredible things for the future,” adding that “I’ve always been in love with the product. I use it every day and I believe very strongly that this has got still a huge amount of potential ahead.”
“When I went to buy Twitter and I was having those conversations, all of my shareholders came to me and said, ‘You can stop that now. You will not pursue this vision,'” he said, adding that “it was a tough moment for me.”
Helping the planet, and employees
Aside from his Twitter comments, Benioff also discussed with Harlow his concerns about what’s next for the global economy. Investors are clearly nervous as well. Shares of Salesforce have plunged more than 40% so far this year.
Benioff said that deflation in Japan and Europe are potential problems, and he believes Europe and the United Kingdom are “going into recession.” But he does not think the US is in a recession.
“We can do it all. We can have super high revenue, super high profit, super high cash flow and we can manage for all stakeholders,” he said. “That means we’re managing for our employees, our customers, our communities, our homeless, and yes, the planet is a key stakeholder as well.”
“I love what he has done. I think we [Salesforce] also need to do more,” Benioff said.
“We have to be for the equality and dignity of every human being,” he said, “and if you’re not for equality and dignity then…this is not something that I can work with. And we’re going to have to exit your city or your state.”
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