By Biz Carson and Felipe Marques
(Bloomberg) — Enterprise capitalist Ron Conway is leaving the board of Salesforce Inc.’s philanthropic basis after blasting Chief Govt Officer Marc Benioff for calling on President Donald Trump to ship the Nationwide Guard to San Francisco.
Conway informed Benioff that he was “shocked and disappointed by your comments calling for an unwanted invasion of San Francisco by federal troops and by your willful ignorance and detachment from the impacts of the ICE immigration raids of families with NO criminal record, attacks on freedom of speech, and other unlawful policies.”
On Wednesday, Trump floated San Francisco as a possible goal for Nationwide Guard deployments as a part of his federal crime crackdown. Benioff informed the New York Instances final week that he supported such a transfer. “If they can be cops, I’m all for it,” he mentioned.
Conway declined to remark by means of a spokesperson, whereas Benioff didn’t reply to a request for remark. A Salesforce consultant mentioned in an announcement, “We have deep gratitude for Ron Conway and his incredible contributions to the Salesforce Foundation board.”
Trump has moved to deploy US troops and federal regulation enforcement officers to main cities — together with Los Angeles, Washington, Memphis, Chicago and Portland — to focus on crime and counter demonstrations towards his deportations of undocumented migrants. The president has claimed that Democratic state and native officers have failed to guard residents and allowed violence to spiral uncontrolled, whilst San Francisco’s crime charges have fallen in latest months and town is on observe to see the fewest homicides for the reason that Nineteen Fifties.
Conway’s acrimonious message lays naked a bigger battle inside Silicon Valley, as tech luminaries, together with some longtime Democratic donors like Benioff, have flocked to Trump. Within the tight-knit circle of massive tech and enterprise capital, that shift is inflicting tensions that at the moment are effervescent as much as the floor.
Conway, 74, has lengthy been an ally of Benioff’s and served on the inspiration’s board for greater than a decade. The founding father of SV Angel, Conway has been a serious political donor, backing Democrat Kamala Harris for president on 2024. He has additionally been concerned in native San Francisco causes, together with serving to fund Mayor Daniel Lurie’s inauguration.
The feedback precipitated an uproar in San Francisco, the place Benioff, 61, held his agency’s Dreamforce occasion this week, which attracts tens of 1000’s of Salesforce staff and prospects. Comedians Kumail Nanjiani and Ilana Glazer canceled their performances on the three-day occasion, although neither publicly criticized Benioff or Salesforce, in accordance with the San Francisco Normal.
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Initially Printed: October 16, 2025 at 7:31 PM PDT
