Which CEO founded Salesforce in 1999 and still leads it?

Marc Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999 and remains its chair and chief executive officer.

Benioff started Salesforce with Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez. The company was incorporated in 1999, with its early team working from a small apartment in San Francisco and promoting the idea that business software could be delivered over the internet rather than installed on customers’ own servers.

That cloud-based, subscription-focused approach helped Salesforce become a major customer-relationship-management company. Benioff has continued to lead the business while also championing the company’s 1-1-1 philanthropic model, which commits company resources to charitable and community causes.

A common mix-up is Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, or Larry Ellison, who co-founded Oracle. Parker Harris is also important: he is a Salesforce co-founder, but Benioff is the company’s best-known founder and continuing CEO.