VC legend Ron Conway leaves Salesforce Basis after Benioff Nationwide Guard feedback

Ron Conway, founding father of the enterprise capital agency SV Angel, recognized for its early investments in Google, Airbnb and Meta, has resigned from the Salesforce Basis, the New York Times reported. The resignation follows Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff saying final week that he “absolutely helps” President Trump and thinks Nationwide Guard troops ought to patrol the streets of San Francisco.

Conway has served on the board of the Salesforce Basis, whose mission is to assist schooling and workforce growth for underserved youth, for a decade. The philanthropic group donated $36 million in 2023 and ended that yr with $400 million in property, in response to tax filings, the New York Occasions reported.

Benioff and Conway have been associates for 25 years and have shared left-leaning political opinions for many of that point. However the Salesforce CEO’s present ideological views troubled Conway.

“It saddens me immensely to say that along with your latest feedback and incapacity to grasp their impression, I barely acknowledge the particular person I’ve admired for thus lengthy,” Conway wrote Thursday in an e-mail to Benioff obtained by the New York Occasions.

In an interview with the New York Occasions final week, Benioff praised Elon Musk’s authorities effectivity efforts and stated he was not following stories about immigration operations or Trump’s assaults on the press. That is regardless of Benioff proudly owning Time journal, which he bought in 2018.

Benioff is one among many high-profile expertise leaders and traders who, regardless of beforehand supporting the Democratic Celebration, have now come out in assist of Trump.

The disagreement between Benioff and Conway unfolded throughout Salesforce’s Dreamforce convention, one of many largest occasions held yearly in San Francisco. Neither Salesforce nor Conway instantly responded to a request for remark.