Salesforce, which just laid off 8,000 workers, pays 'creative advisor' Matthew McConaughey...

[midian182]

Why it matters: Many tech industry workers have been laid off from their jobs recently, the result of over-hiring during the lockdowns and a global economic downturn. Becoming unemployed is a bitter pill, and it's even more depressing to learn that your former company pays a Hollywood actor millions of dollars a year to act as a creative adviser.

According to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, Salesforce, which in January said it has to let 8,000 workers go, pays Interstellar star Matthew McConaughey $10 million per year for his role as "creative advisor and TV pitchman." The report didn't mention when the contract began.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff last month announced that the company was joining the many other tech firms in laying off staff. The co-founder said, "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. But, ultimately, the success of the business has to be paramount."

McConaughey famously appeared in a Salesforce ad aired during last year's Super Bowl that took aim at companies looking to outer space and the metaverse as the next frontiers for humanity. McConaughey was paid $5 million for the ad, something Benioff said was small change compared to a payroll of over 70,000 employees – though there are 8,000 fewer workers to pay these days.

McConaughey isn't the only celebrity being paid by Salesforce. Musician and producer Will.I.am, who has been involved in the tech industry for years -- despite his many failed products -- is often involved alongside McConaughey in business strategy meetings at Salesforce, much to the surprise of other attendees. According to one person familiar with the company's senior management, however, these were just casual discussions.

The Financial Times writes that their presence was explained by Will.I.am's strong understanding of technology and McConaughey's role in Salesforce's advertising.

Benioff is no stranger to controversy. During an all-hands meeting to discuss the company's mass layoffs last month, he claimed staff didn't have the same level of productivity and performance as in 2020, before the pandemic. He pointed the finger of blame at remote workers, new hires made during the height of Covid-19, and younger employees.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97772-salesforce-which-laid-off-8000-workers-pays-creative.html

 

[VariableSpike]

Will.I.am and McConaughey, because that really helps their mess of a product be better, oh wait.....

Of course even if it all fails and starts falling down, I fully expect Marc to get a big massive golden parachute package and to f**k off to another company to epouse his dumb style of management, even if it is his decision that make this worse - maybe actually focus on making your products less buggy and not crap instead of just taking the easy "but muh homeworkers" option like some kind of micromanaging dictator?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Well, hey, here's the good news! We'll do the opposite, and take that $10 million for the workers! I'm sure that all 8000 of those employees would be happy with their $1250 per year annual salary, right?

Numbers are really hard.......

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Well, hey, here's the good news! We'll do the opposite, and take that $10 million for the workers! I'm sure that all 8000 of those employees would be happy with their $1250 per year annual salary, right?

Numbers are really hard.......

That's not the point. The point is things like this are a hard pill to swallow and leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You see massive layoffs, lots of folks lost their jobs. Then you see that one person is being paid millions for very little work. It doesn't look good.

A place I worked at during the housing crash around 2005.
In 2005 to 2009, all these things happened:
There were no raises given.
There were no bonuses given out.
There was no holiday party (like he had done for the past 20 years he's owned the company up until 2005)
There were a few layoffs every year (I was let go with 1/4 of the staff in 2009).

Around 2007 the owner purchases a new Jaguar station wagon (yes, station wagon). They are not normally made, so it was a special order. I guess the 2002 Jaguar coupe he had wasn't good enough anymore. That same year he took his wife and his two sons out to Africa and spent upwards of $250k+ to hunt a handful of animals in Africa.

I understand that he has his money and he can do as he sees with it, but when things are slow, raises aren't being given out, layoffs are happening, no bonuses, no holiday parties and so on - it is really hard not to think bad things about the owner as he spends tons of money on frivolous things while employees at his company are getting less and less every year or just outright losing their jobs.

 

[Lounds]

That's not the point. The point is things like this are a hard pill to swallow and leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You see massive layoffs, lots of folks lost their jobs. Then you see that one person is being paid millions for very little work. It doesn't look good.

A place I worked at during the housing crash around 2005.
In 2005 to 2009, all these things happened:
There were no raises given.
There were no bonuses given out.
There was no holiday party (like he had done for the past 20 years he's owned the company up until 2005)
There were a few layoffs every year (I was let go with 1/4 of the staff in 2009).

Around 2007 the owner purchases a new Jaguar station wagon (yes, station wagon). They are not normally made, so it was a special order. I guess the 2002 Jaguar coupe he had wasn't good enough anymore. That same year he took his wife and his two sons out to Africa and spent upwards of $250k+ to hunt a handful of animals in Africa.

I understand that he has his money and he can do as he sees with it, but when things are slow, raises aren't being given out, layoffs are happening, no bonuses, no holiday parties and so on - it is really hard not to think bad things about the owner as he spends tons of money on frivolous things while employees at his company are getting less and less every year or just outright losing their jobs.

The only Jaguar estate (station wagon) available back then was the Jaguar X Type, which was essentially a Ford Mondeo (Fusion) with the Jaguar look and interior and a couple of upgrades for steering and suspension.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I understand that he has his money and he can do as he sees with it, but

BUT...
then you don’t really understand.

 

[Ohnooze]

At least it's McConaughey.....

 

[toooooot]

Where is the problem though? You either have money and pay to McC or you dont.
I mean how would they pay him 10 millions if they did not lay off 8k workers, did you think about that?

 

[wiyosaya]

The only Jaguar estate (station wagon) available back then was the Jaguar X Type, which was essentially a Ford Mondeo (Fusion) with the Jaguar look and interior and a couple of upgrades for steering and suspension.

So?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

That's not the point. The point is things like this are a hard pill to swallow and leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You see massive layoffs, lots of folks lost their jobs. Then you see that one person is being paid millions for very little work. It doesn't look good.

A place I worked at during the housing crash around 2005.
In 2005 to 2009, all these things happened:
There were no raises given.
There were no bonuses given out.
There was no holiday party (like he had done for the past 20 years he's owned the company up until 2005)
There were a few layoffs every year (I was let go with 1/4 of the staff in 2009).

Around 2007 the owner purchases a new Jaguar station wagon (yes, station wagon). They are not normally made, so it was a special order. I guess the 2002 Jaguar coupe he had wasn't good enough anymore. That same year he took his wife and his two sons out to Africa and spent upwards of $250k+ to hunt a handful of animals in Africa.

I understand that he has his money and he can do as he sees with it, but when things are slow, raises aren't being given out, layoffs are happening, no bonuses, no holiday parties and so on - it is really hard not to think bad things about the owner as he spends tons of money on frivolous things while employees at his company are getting less and less every year or just outright losing their jobs.

So, your boss was really good with his money, had cash, and spent it on his family, but because the company itself wasnt doing great it was somehow his problem?

Do you think your boss should be able to judge your raises based on how you live your life? Because I can think of a LOT of employees who complain about how much the top brass make while wasting most of their paycheck on total BS.

Unless he was pulling company assets to fund these trips your complaint doesnt really have a leg to stand on. He worked his arse off to build a company and likely was enjoying the spoils of years, if not decades, of grinding a millstone against his face. The timing may have seemed poor, but its his money, and every story has two sides.

Where is the problem though? You either have money and pay to McC or you dont.
I mean how would they pay him 10 millions if they did not lay off 8k workers, did you think about that?

Do you think said employees were working for $1250 per year? Because if not, your math doesnt check out.

 

[wiyosaya]

So, your boss was really good with his money, had cash, and spent it on his family, but because the company itself wasnt doing great it was somehow his problem?

Maybe you think that he was good with money, but if you ask me, he spent his money on frivolous things. Perhaps the way he spent his money was indicative of a problem with his management style. Maybe he carried the way he spent his "personal" money into the business, too.

 

[texasrattler]

Maybe you think that he was good with money, but if you ask me, he spent his money on frivolous things. Perhaps the way he spent his money was indicative of a problem with his management style. Maybe he carried the way he spent his "personal" money into the business, too.

Frivolous things, it's his money. If he donated it to charity ud still have a problem with it cause it could have went to workers.
It's just business not personal.

If you work your azz off for years, had stuff planned that you wanted to do, you'd do it to. Company's go through all kinds of things but a person just doesn't stop living.
Life ain't fair, gotta learn that.

Enjoy life as much as you can, it will be gone before you know it.

 

[pan1c]

Man Salesforce seems to be a shitty company to work for

 

[someOtherGuy]

Sometimes the companies just trim extra fat, legacy structures or failed teams. Examples are:
- Twitter, after firing almost half the company was expected to stop working. It's a simple 240 character chat website, it's amazing that it needs 2k people to make it work (previously 4k-5k people) and it's still there, apparently without issues.

- Meta betted for their Metaverse thing and recently pulled the plug. All those people working on that project, a maybe other failed projects, would have to go somewhere (usually out the door). Google and their moonshots would share this trend too.

 

[Faddish]

Well, hey, here's the good news! We'll do the opposite, and take that $10 million for the workers! I'm sure that all 8000 of those employees would be happy with their $1250 per year annual salary, right?

Numbers are really hard.......

Well how about this - which do you think would be more productive? 1 "consultant" Matthew McConaughey at $10m/yr or 80 actual working employees at $125k/yr?

 

[hwertz]

Ridiculous! I thought "Well, maybe the $10 million keeps him on retainer for ads." Nope! $5 milllion SEPERATE payment for being in an ad. And you know, Salesforce ads must be 100% unmemorable, I don't recall ever seeing one and could not tell you what is in one -- so essentially the $10 million is a waste of money too.

(Just watched one on Google and I can see why I don't remember them -- they said some generic platitudes that have nothing to do with the product or service, then DON'T SAY THE COMPANY NAME ONCE DURING THE ENTIRE AD. Guess what? I don't stare at the screen during ads, if you don't say your product name, you've wasted your money on that ad!)

 

[Avro Arrow]

 

[GoldenGoat]

Matthew McConaughey is very handsome.

 

[AndreV]

Just like the ****ing Bible said:

Mark 4:25
"Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

And this just a recent clear-cut example of this. There are many more to different degrees.

 

[Hodor]

F1 team Mercedes is paying Lewis Hamilton $40 million, and last season he was worse than his young teammate George Russell, who earned "just" $8 million.

They should dump Lewis, hire another promising youngster instead of him (offering him just $1 million) and spend the remaining $39 million on improving the car. Or sending help to earthquake flattened parts of Turkey and Syria.

 

[pan1c]

F1 team Mercedes is paying Lewis Hamilton $40 million, and last season he was worse than his young teammate George Russell, who earned "just" $8 million.

They should dump Lewis, hire another promising youngster instead of him (offering him just $1 million) and spend the remaining $39 million on improving the car. Or sending help to earthquake flattened parts of Turkey and Syria.

Thats a strange comparison. Russell is a great driver, but somehow he can predict safety cars.