10 Individuals who Influence Corporate World

2. Marc Russell Benioff

Chairman and CEO of SalesForce.com

Benioff is ranked among the most crazy-genius of people. On one hand he is applauded for his ingenious business acumen and simultaneously for his expressive self. Benioff is “credited with turning the software industry on its head” by using internet to “revamp the way software programs are designed and distributed.” He has created the term “platform as a service” and has even allowed customers to build their own applications on the firm’s architecture under the name “cloud”. Fortune called him one among the ‘Smartest 50 People in Tech’ in the year 2010. San Francisco Business Times called Benioff ‘2009 Executive of the Year,’ "for defying the fierce economic downdraft and taking the lead role in the creation of an industry." Benioff even helped SalesForce win the prestigious ‘Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award.’ David A. Kaplan, of Forbes, says that Benioff has "the mind of a fox and the body of a bear." He is so good with his tactics that even the legendary Microsoft tried to imitate his strategy but couldn’t succeed.