Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff donates $30 million to study homelessness

SAN FRANCISCO — Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his wife are donating $30 million to fight homelessness — a record-breaking gift that will launch a new research center to study the issue at the University of California, San Francisco.

UCSF on Wednesday announced the formation of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, which will research the root causes of homelessness and attempt to determine the most effective solutions to the problem plaguing the Bay Area. The new program intends to draw experts from various fields to tackle the issue, help train new homelessness researchers, integrate and complement research already being conducted by university faculty, and make its findings easily accessible to policy makers and community leaders around the country.

“The world needs a North Star for truth on homelessness,” Benioff wrote in a UCSF news release. “The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative will be that North Star, providing the latest research, data and evidence-based solutions to ensure we’re investing in programs that will help solve the homelessness crisis.”

The Benioffs’ $30 million contribution is the largest-ever private donation to fund homelessness research, according to UCSF.

As homelessness becomes one of the Bay Area’s most pressing issues, the Benioffs have poured money into the problem. The tech billionaire and his wife, Lynne Benioff, now have contributed $66 million to address homelessness in San Francisco.

There were about 7,500 homeless residents counted in San Francisco in 2017, according to the city’s most recent biennial survey. The 2019 count took place in January, and results will be released later this year.