Forbes Honors Salesforce Chairman and Co-CEO Marc Benioff on its List of the World’s Most Innovative Leaders

On the heels of honoring Salesforce on its 2018 list of the World’s 100 Most Innovative Companies, Forbes has ranked Salesforce Chairman and Co-CEO Marc Benioff at #6 on its list of the World’s Most Innovative Leaders. Frederick E. Allen, Leadership Editor at Forbes, cited Salesforce’s three-year market value creation of $50 billion, its three-year stock gain of 143 percent, and its “innovation premium” of 82.4 percent, which was highest among the top ten ranked honorees.

“What sets apart the superstars of innovation? Not just creativity and genius ideas,” Allen reports. “It’s a combination of strengths from skill at leading innovation to powerful connections with other leaders and, perhaps most important, an ever-growing record of making big new things happen.”

Professor Jeff Dyer of Brigham Young University and Assistant Professor Nathan Furr of INSEAD business school helped to create Forbes’ list, evaluating what they refer to as “innovation capital” by measuring four essential qualities: reputation for innovation (looking at media coverage over five years), social connections and networks (on Twitter and LinkedIn), track record for value creation (based on the market value growth of their companies) and investor expectations for future value creation (measured by the premium investors put on their companies’ stock).

Forbes’ full list of honorees is found here.