Key Stats
Revenue (FY2025): $37.9 billion
Market Cap: $250 billion (as of October 2025)
Employees: 76,453 worldwide
CRM Market Share: 21.7% (global leader)
Customers: 150,000+ companies globally
Salesforce operates as the world’s leading customer relationship management platform. The company provides cloud-based software solutions that help businesses manage sales, customer service, marketing, and analytics operations.
Marc Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999 with the vision of delivering enterprise software through the internet. The company pioneered the software-as-a-service model that transformed how businesses purchase and use software.
Salesforce headquarters sits in San Francisco, California. The company serves customers across every major industry, from small businesses to more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies.
Salesforce History
1999
Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez founded Salesforce in a San Francisco apartment. The team created the first cloud-based CRM software.
2004
Salesforce went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CRM. The IPO raised $110 million and valued the company at over $1 billion.
2009
Salesforce reached $1 billion in annual revenue and launched Service Cloud. The company expanded beyond sales automation into customer service applications.
2013
Salesforce acquired ExactTarget for $2.5 billion. This purchase created Marketing Cloud and established Salesforce as a leader in digital marketing platforms.
2018
Salesforce acquired MuleSoft for $6.5 billion to expand integration capabilities. The company passed $10 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
2019
Salesforce completed the acquisition of Tableau for $15.7 billion. This deal brought advanced data visualization and analytics into the Salesforce ecosystem.
2021
Salesforce acquired Slack for $27.7 billion, the largest deal in company history. The acquisition positioned Salesforce to compete with Microsoft Teams in workplace collaboration.
2024
Salesforce launched Agentforce, its agentic AI platform. The company reported $34.86 billion in annual revenue and maintained its position as the global CRM leader for the 11th year.
Salesforce Co-founders
Marc Benioff
Former Oracle executive who served as Chairman and CEO. Benioff pioneered the cloud computing model and led Salesforce from a startup to a $250 billion company.
Parker Harris
Co-founder and former CTO who wrote the original Salesforce code. Harris previously worked at Clarify and brought technical expertise that shaped the platform architecture.
Dave Moellenhoff
Software developer from Clarify who helped build the initial sales automation software. Moellenhoff contributed to the core product development in Salesforce’s early years.
Frank Dominguez
Software engineer who joined Benioff and Harris at the company’s founding. Dominguez helped develop the technical foundation that made Salesforce’s cloud delivery model possible.
Salesforce Competitors
Salesforce dominates the global CRM market with a 21.7% market share. The company generates more CRM revenue than Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and Adobe combined. Competition remains fierce as enterprise software vendors expand their CRM offerings.
| Company | Headquarters | Primary CRM Product |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Redmond, Washington | Dynamics 365 |
| Oracle | Austin, Texas | Oracle CX Cloud |
| SAP | Walldorf, Germany | SAP Customer Experience |
| Adobe | San Jose, California | Adobe Experience Cloud |
| HubSpot | Cambridge, Massachusetts | HubSpot CRM |
| Zoho | Chennai, India | Zoho CRM |
| Zendesk | San Francisco, California | Zendesk Sell |
| ServiceNow | Santa Clara, California | ServiceNow CRM |
| Freshworks | San Mateo, California | Freshsales |
| Workday | Pleasanton, California | Workday Adaptive Planning |
Salesforce Revenue
Salesforce generated $37.9 billion in revenue during fiscal year 2025. Subscription and support services account for 94% of total revenue. The company has maintained consistent double-digit growth throughout its history.
Salesforce Market Cap
Salesforce holds a market capitalization of approximately $250 billion as of October 2025. The company ranks among the 40 most valuable publicly traded companies globally. Market cap fluctuated during 2022 but recovered through 2024.
Salesforce Acquisitions
Salesforce has completed over 65 acquisitions since its founding. The company uses acquisitions to expand product capabilities, enter new markets, and integrate advanced technologies. Each major purchase has strengthened Salesforce’s position in the enterprise software market.
Slack represents the largest acquisition at $27.7 billion, completed in July 2021. Salesforce integrated Slack as the communication layer for its Customer 360 platform. The deal helped Salesforce compete directly with Microsoft Teams in workplace collaboration.
Tableau joined Salesforce in August 2019 for $15.7 billion. The acquisition combined the CRM leader with the analytics leader to create a data visualization powerhouse. Tableau operates as a standalone product while integrating with Salesforce clouds.
MuleSoft came to Salesforce in May 2018 for $6.5 billion. The integration platform connects applications, data, and devices across cloud and on-premise environments. MuleSoft enables customers to build application networks that unify their technology stacks.
Earlier acquisitions built the foundation for Salesforce’s cloud offerings. ExactTarget ($2.5 billion, 2013) became Marketing Cloud. Demandware ($2.8 billion, 2016) became Commerce Cloud. Heroku (2010) provided platform-as-a-service capabilities. Radian6 and Buddy Media enhanced social media monitoring.
Recent purchases focus on AI and data management. Salesforce acquired Own Company for $1.9 billion in 2024 to enhance data protection. The company announced plans to acquire Informatica for $8 billion to strengthen its data management platform. Moonhub, an AI hiring platform, joined Salesforce to expand workforce management capabilities.
FAQs
Who founded Salesforce?
Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez founded Salesforce in February 1999. Benioff left Oracle to start the company and served as Chairman and CEO.
What does Salesforce do?
Salesforce provides cloud-based customer relationship management software. The platform helps businesses manage sales, service, marketing, commerce, and analytics through subscription-based applications.
When did Salesforce go public?
Salesforce went public on June 23, 2004 on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO raised $110 million under the ticker symbol CRM at $11 per share.
What is Salesforce market share?
Salesforce holds 21.7% of the global CRM market as of 2024. The company has ranked as the number one CRM provider for 12 consecutive years according to IDC.
How many employees work at Salesforce?
Salesforce employs 76,453 people worldwide as of fiscal year 2025. The company operates 99 offices across 87 cities globally and maintains nine Salesforce Tower locations.