Salesforce's Marc Benioff calls for a 'new capitalism' where billionaires pay higher taxes

Marc Benioff, Co-CEO of SalesForce speaking at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2019.

Adam Galica | CNBC

Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff is calling for the establishment of a "new capitalism" that's paid for in part by taxing billionaires like himself.

In an op-ed in The New York Times published Monday, Benioff said businesses should focus less on profits and more on their impact on society, while using their power to help advance important causes, like the creation of a national privacy law and fighting climate change.

To achieve these goals, Benioff proposed a new system that "includes higher taxes on the wealthiest among us."

"Nationally, increasing taxes on high-income individuals like myself would help generate the trillions of dollars that we desperately need to improve education and health care and fight climate change," Benioff wrote.

Benioff's comments echo an earlier move by the Business Roundtable, a group made up of CEOs from several top U.S. corporations, to steer the focus of corporations away from maximizing shareholder value.

Benioff also isn't the first billionaire to say America's wealthiest should pay higher taxes. Legendary investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have repeatedly voiced support for a similar move.

Read the full op-ed at The New York Times.

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