Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff threatens to pull annual Dreamforce conference from firm’s hometown San Francisco if any of its 40,000 attendees fall victim to soaring crime in city

The CEO of software giant Salesforce has warned that the company could reconsider holding its big annual meeting in San Francisco if attendees at this year’s conference fall victim to the city’s crime spree.

Founded in San Francisco in 1999 by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff, Salesforce has brought its staff to the city each year for a conference called Dreamforce.

This year’s Dreamforce — the largest tech gathering in the city this year — will be held Sept. 12-14 at the Moscone Center, in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

The 40,000 expected physical attendees will pump $57 million into the local economy, but Benioff said he was watching closely to make sure no one is affected by the city’s rising crime.

Thefts are up 16 percent year-over-year, and motor vehicle thefts are up 11.3 percent.

“If this Dreamforce is affected by the current situation of homelessness and drug abuse, it could be the last Dreamforce in town,” Benioff said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday.

Benioff is pictured at the 2017 Dreamforce rally

The Dreamforce conference is pictured in 2018. This year’s event will bring 40,000 people to San Francisco

Hillary Clinton is pictured at the 2014 Dreamforce conference

Benioff pointed out that Dreamforce serves as a pilot project for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference that Joe Biden will host in the city in November, bringing 21 world leaders to the city.

“We are working hand-in-hand with the city, as always,” he said. “It is therefore in all of our interests that things go well, and that APEC also goes well.

“This should be the focus of the city.”

London Breed, said the mayor of San Francisco – who is fighting to save the battered city’s reputation crown4 that they worked hard to make sure every delegate enjoyed their time in the Bay Area.

“San Francisco is committed to making Dreamforce a world-class event, as we do year after year,” she said.

“The city is working closely with Salesforce and our hospitality partners to welcome all attendees and ensure resources are in place to make it safe, welcoming and vibrant for everyone.”

Salesforce’s fortunes are inseparable from the city’s.

Downtown San Francisco is plagued by vacant stores, homeless camps and drug users

Homeless camps are pictured in San Francisco, one of the hardest-hit cities in the US

Dreamforce is held in an area that many major retailers have abandoned

The company completed the Salesforce Tower in 2018, a 61-story skyscraper that serves as its headquarters and is closely monitored as an indicator of the city’s health.

Salesforce, the city’s largest private employer, has embraced remote working and has seen much of its office space vacant since 2020.

In May, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the company has offices for rent in the Salesforce Tower, as well as its other offices at 350 Mission Street and 50 Fremont Street, where 90 percent of the space is vacant.

Salesforce’s subsidiary Slack also left its former headquarters at 500 Howard Street, which is 95.4 percent vacant, and has offered sublet space at 45 Fremont Street, which is 60 percent vacant.

However, previous Dreamforce conferences have passed without any significant problems in 2018 Benioff said Attendees had emailed him to complain about the homelessness problem and the filthy streets.

Benioff and his team hyped this year’s meeting at “the country’s premier show in generative artificial intelligence.”

The headline concludes with a fireside conversation between Benioff and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

Guest invitees include Matthew McConaughey and Stanford AI professor Fei Fei Li.

The Foo Fighters are booked to perform for the attendees.