VC legend Ron Conway quits Salesforce Basis after Benioff’s Nationwide Guard feedback

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

Conway has been on the board of Salesforce Basis, whose mission is to assist training and workforce growth for deprived youth, for a decade. The philanthropic group donated $36 million in 2023 and ended that 12 months with $400 million in property, in accordance with tax filings, the New York Instances reported.

Benioff and Conway have been buddies for 25 years and shared left-leaning political beliefs for almost all of that point. However the Salesforce CEO’s present ideological viewpoints upset Conway.

“It saddens me immensely to say that together with your latest feedback, and failure to grasp their impression, I now barely acknowledge the individual I’ve so lengthy admired,” Conway wrote on Thursday in an electronic mail to Benioff obtained by the New York Instances.

In an interview with the New York Instances final week, Benioff praised Elon Musk’s authorities effectivity efforts and stated that he wasn’t maintaining with studies on immigration raids or Trump’s assaults on the press. This although Benioff owns the information journal Time, which he bought in 2018.

Benioff is likely one of the many high-profile tech leaders and traders who, regardless of having beforehand supported the Democratic Get together, have now voiced their assist for Trump.

The rift 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.