Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff: Facebook Was a ‘Train Wreck’ Even Before Data Scandals

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff stated in a recent interview that social media platform Facebook was a “train wreck” long before the company’s latest user data scandals.

Business Insider reports that during an interview with CNBC, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff described Facebook as a “train wreck,” long before they faced a string of scandals throughout 2018. Benioff has been critical of Facebook for some time, stating in January that social media should be regulated “exactly the same way you regulated the cigarette industry.”

Benioff stated that he wasn’t initially a critic of Facebook but conversations with leftist hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer and tech investor Roger McNamee — who initially served as an advisor to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — convinced him of the dangers of Facebook. Benioff stated that he came to believe that Facebook “was a train wreck and that the management team was making it worse.”

Following Benioff’s criticism of Facebook in January, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg reached out to Benioff eager to convince him that he was wrong about the website. “Her response and others was that it wasn’t true what I was saying and they were going to send me a variety of materials to prove to me that I did not understand the situation,” said Benioff. “I said I’d be happy to change my position if they sent me those materials that showed I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong, and I’m happy to fall on my sword, but of course those materials never arrived.”

CNBC contacted Facebook about Benioff’s claim, the company stated that they had sent Benioff the materials requested on April 6 but did not elaborate on what the documents contained. Regardless, Benioff appears to remain unconvinced of the company’s positive merits.

Wall Street analyst Brian Wieser recently lowered his Facebook stock sell rating from $125 to $113, saying that the social media firms problems “seem likely to worsen from here (which is saying something considering the year it had in 2018).”