Benioff's Bulging Benefits: Salesforce CEO handed massive pay cheque

Salesforce.com's chief executive has been handed a massive $39.9m (£25.7m) pay packet, despite objections from a number of major shareholders related to its modest record of profitability.

Shareholders narrowly approved the package for Benioff and the six other directors, totalling $81.6m (£53m) in 2015.

Dutch pension company PGGM, a major shareholder, told El Reg in a statement that it voted against the proposal for several reasons.

"The CEO received a very large pay package for the second year in a row, the majority of which was not determined by objective performance conditions," it said.

UK pension fund the Railway Pension Trustee Company has also previously complained about the company's excessive sweeteners.

Total shareholder votes for the remuneration deal were 298,217,092, with 268,190,709 against.

In May 2015, the firm banked its first operating profit in 18 quarters, while simultaneously confirming it will be back in the red again in the next trading period.

After income expenses and tax, the net profit was $4.1m (£2.6m), albeit better than the net loss of $97m (£6.2m) in Q1 fiscal 2014.

For the next quarter Salesforce.com is predicting a small loss, so sustainable profits remain something that eludes Benioff and his company, and no amount of marketing bluster can mask that fact.

The company cited its $5.4bn (£5.5bn) in annual revenue as justification for Benioff's pay cheque, up 32 per cent. ®