--- title: "CEO: Matthew McConaughey’s Huge Paycheck Has Nothing to Do With Layoffs, Peasants" description: "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is irked by the suggestion that the $10 million his company pays Matthew McConaughey per year was related to its mass layoffs." date: "2023-03-14" modified: "2023-03-14" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/salesforce-ceo-matthew-mcconaughey" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "celebrities" - "marketing" - "salesforce" - "the digest" --- # CEO: Matthew McConaughey’s Huge Paycheck Has Nothing to Do With Layoffs, Peasants ![Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is irked by the suggestion that the $10 million his company pays Matthew McConaughey per year was related to its mass layoffs.]() *\Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin via Getty / Futurism\* ## Benioffed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is apparently quite irked by the suggestion that the $10 million per annum that his company pays "True Detective" star Matthew McConaughey had anything to do with the [company's decision to lay off 8,000 people](). In [an interview with *Barron's*]() — a ritzy publication choice that most certainly isn't doing the CEO any favors — Benioff opined that it simply wasn't fair to link the two. "We radically surged our employment in 2022… and we just had too many employees and we needed to adjust our employment," the CEO told *Barron*'s. "Putting those two things together, I don’t think it is a fair comment." Benioff defended the "Dallas Buyers Club" actor's spokesman position at the company, saying that he's done "phenomenal" work and that "any company would be thrilled to have Matthew McConaughey as their spokesperson and creative artist." "If you have seen the work, it’s some of the best in the world, and it’s not related to our layoffs," he declared. ## Isn't It Ironic Honestly, it's kind of hard to tell which of Benioff's suggestions is worse: that none of those 8,000 jobs could have been saved by eliminating all or part of the $10 million Salesforce pays McConaughey per year — or that the company just hired too many people for some reason and is handling it by laying off thousands of people en masse. *Barron's* noted that in February of last year, McConaughey made some remarks about his [Salesforce Superbowl ad]() — which saw him chiding billionaires like Elon Musk for wanting to [leave Earth as it's burning](). "You know what, a lot of us are looking to escape and get the hell out of here or maybe look the other way. You know what? They’re right! But we can look around at our earthly challenges and look those in the eye and say, ‘Let’s handle this and restore what we got going here. We’re not ready to quit,'" [the actor told *Variety*](). "Hopefully businesses will see this and are urged and nudged to make a commitment to making life here on Earth more fair, equal and sustainable." And really, nothing spells "fair, equal, and sustainable" quite like laying off 8,000 people while paying one single celebrity $10 million big ones a year. **More on celebrity spox:** [*Shaq Says It's Not His Fault He Accidentally Shilled for FTX*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()