Anger as Salesforce ‘paying Matthew McConaughey $10m a year for creative advice’ as it lays off hundreds
McConaughey is reportedly a friend of Salesforce founder and co-CEO Marc Benioff
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer that recently laid off 8000 employees, has reportedly been paying Matthew McConaughey $10m a year to serve as a creative adviser and TV consultant.
The payments to McConaughey, estimated at about $160m so far, were called out by the Wall Street Journal and come at a time when the company has laid off employees and cut back on monthly off days.
McConaughey is reportedly a friend of Salesforce founder and co-CEO Marc Benioff. According to the WSJ report, he has been receiving an eight-figure compensation made up of cash and equity.
Mr Benioff has, however, denied playing any part in the deal. Earlier this year, Salesforce announced plans to lay off about 10 per cent of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort.
It was also reported that Mr Benioff discussed a proposal, that he later scrapped, to rank employees and routinely fire the “bottom-performing” ones, according to the report.
Calling out Salesforce, journalist Katie Bindly said: “Crazy to think a year ago I was writing about Salesforce launching a wellness retreat for employees. Times sure have changed (& the retreat is no more) but they’re still paying Matthew McConaughey $10m a year as an advisor.”
Mr Benioff added around 30,000 employees from the start of 2020 until the end of last year, roughly a 60 per cent increase. And then in January, the business-software company said they had to let go of 8,000 employees.
“It’s an unfortunate part that you have to say goodbye to folks who, in many cases, are your friends and you have relationships with,” Mr Benioff said in an interview.
“But, ultimately, the success of the business has to be paramount.”
As part of cutbacks, Salesforce let go of some of the speciality-coffee baristas at the company’s San Francisco tower. Salesforce also cut ties with a 75-acre wellness retreat, known as the Trailblazer Ranch, where employees enjoyed a mix of training and getaway activities such as hiking and yoga.
The Independent has reached out to the actor’s agent for comment.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments