Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff sends Hawaii hospitals a $150M gift
Benioff owns approximately 600 acres of land in Hawaii
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Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is giving hospitals in the Aloha State a hefty donation.
The charitable contribution, announced Tuesday, totals $150 million and seeks to help address "critical infrastructure gaps and ensure excellent and continuous care" for people in Hawaii, the University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) and Benioff said. UCSF Health will work with hospitals to get donations to "provide more specialized care" as part of Benioff and his wife Lynne’s initiative.
Hawai’i Pacific Health and Hilo Medical Center will receive the funds.
SUN VALLEY, IDAHO - JULY 13: Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, walks with other attendees as they leave a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 13, 2023 in Sun Valley, Idaho. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Benioff and his connection to Hawaii drew attention recently after NPR reported the Salesforce CEO had used LLCs and a non-profit to acquire over 600 acres of Hawaiian property over the course of about two decades. The purchases are reportedly worth almost $100 million.
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Land acquisitions like his and those by other billionaires in Hawaii have played a part in the anxiety felt among residents about housing in the state and how such moves could make availability and affordability even worse, according to NPR and other outlets.
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"Marc & Lynne have donated almost 75% of the total land they’ve purchased in Hawaii over the last quarter-century, and well over 90% of the land they’ve purchased since 2020. This includes 282 acres donated to the Hawaii Island Community Development Corporation (HICDC), a non-profit developer of affordable housing, and 158 acres to a separate non-profit that holds the property for HICDC if it chooses to use it, or for other philanthropic purposes if it does not," a spokesperson for Benioff and his wife told FOX Business.
The property donations and the newly-announced $150 million healthcare donation are part of the now over $250 million in gifts Benioff has made in Hawaii, according to UCSF.
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Hilo Medical Center will allocate the $50 million it is getting from the Salesforce CEO and his wife to "critical areas of care" and to the hospital’s efforts to attract more doctors, the press release said. It specifically mentioned an intensive care unit, neurosurgical program, family birthing center and behavioral health services as getting funding.
Meanwhile, the $100 million allocated to Hawai’i Pacific Health will help with massive renovations at the Straub Medical Center.
Marc Benioff, billionaire and co-chief executive officer of Salesforce.com Inc., during a panel session on day two of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Our philosophy has always been to give locally and to give through experts who deeply understand local needs, and we are so pleased to have found that with the wonderful, lifesaving teams at Hilo Medical Center, Hawai’i Pacific Health and UCSF Health," the Benioffs said in a statement. "We feel fortunate to have been part of the Hawai’i community for many decades and to be able to support our ohana in this way."
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He and his wife have promised to give away at least 50% of their wealth to charitable causes as signatories of the Giving Pledge. They signed onto that initiative, which Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett set up about eight years ago.
Forbes reported Benioff had a personal fortune that hovered around $10.6 billion as of Wednesday.