London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 28, 2025

Marc Benioff bought Time Magazine to help address a 'crisis of trust'

Marc Benioff bought Time Magazine to help address a 'crisis of trust'

When Salesforce founder and Time magazine owner Marc Benioff looks around, he sees a "crisis of trust."
"Our world today needs more trust," Benioff said on Sunday's "Reliable Sources."

He said Time can be part of the solution by continuing to carry out its journalistic duty.

But the challenges are daunting, he said. "When you look at what's happening with social media, when you look at the types of decisions that are being made in regards to artificial intelligence and these next generation of technologies, especially as it's with regards to media, well, we're finding ourselves quite vested in a crisis of trust."

The Salesforce (CRM) chairman and his wife, Lynne Benioff, bought TIME from Meredith Corporation (MDP) for $190 million in 2018. The couple is just one among a series of billionaires who have scooped up legacy media titles in recent years, including Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, and Laurene Powell Jobs, who owns a majority stake in The Atlantic.

Benioff said he wanted the magazine to be "unshackled" from financial constraints to carry out its mission to provide truthful, trustworthy information to readers.

"Time magazine can be a steward of trust," Benioff said. "It's one of the core values of Time: trust, impact, the core magazine itself, and that it's about equality."

And he said it's working. Benioff said the print edition of Time is "probably more popular than ever," even as many other legacy print outlets struggle to compete with digital news. He claimed Time's most recent issue, its annual "Person of the Year" feature, is "probably the most successful issue of Time magazine of all time."

After the magazine named Greta Thunberg its person of the year for 2019, it raised some questions about the kind of influence Benioff - who has been outspoken about the need to address climate change - has at the magazine. But Benioff said that when he purchased the magazine, he decided not to get involved in editorial or operational decisions.

"We have our hands full already with lots of other exciting things that we do every single day," Benioff said. "But we want to be able to be the stewards of the historic brand and give them this ability to move forward and give them the fuel to move forward."

As for some of the causes of this "crisis of trust," Benioff again criticized Facebook (FB), something he has repeatedly done in recent years.

"Well, you can see Facebook is the new cigarettes for our society. It's something that badly needs to be regulated," he said. "They're certainly not exactly about truth in advertising. Even they have said that. That's why we're really in squarely a crisis of trust, when the core vendor themselves cannot say that trust is our most important value. Look, we're at a moment in time where each one of us in every company has to ask a question: What is our highest value?"

Benioff has called for the social media giant to be broken up - at the same time that the company has faced pressure from federal officials and state attorneys general over antitrust concerns. And on Sunday, Benioff said he really does expect to see Facebook divided.

"I expect a fundamental reconceptualization of what Facebook's role is in the world," Benioff said. "When you have an entity that large with that much potential impact, and not fundamentally doing good things to improve the state of the world, well, then I think everyone is going to have it in its crosshairs."

Facebook pushed back on the idea that it would be broken up.

"While some may see antitrust action as a catch all solution to address all social policy, the fact is that antitrust law is not intended to punish a company because you disagree with its leadership, dislike the product, or to impose liability where companies are seeking to compete vigorously- and even win - on the merits," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
×