The CEO of a big tech company tweeted a question to his 205,000 followers Friday: Should the company leave Georgia if the state legislature passes a pending bill that he says would discriminate against gays.
Earlier this week, Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff had suggested that he may cut the company’s Georgia presence if the state enacts a “religious liberty” law allowing same-sex marriage opponents to cite religious beliefs in denying services to gay couples.
On Friday, state Senator Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, responded by accusing the CEO of "political antics" and doing business in nations that criminalize gay relations.
That led to Benioff's tweet: "Should Salesforce move http://www.salesforce.com/connections/ if @JoshMcKoon's anti gay bill 757 passes the Georgia legislator?"
(McKoon actually wasn't a house sponsor of House Bill 757, but he did vote for the latest senate version of it.)
With about 1,000 votes in the first hour, more than three-fourths were for divestiture in Georgia.
Salesforce, based in San Francisco, has nearly 20,000 employees worldwide. Last year, it has more than 400 employees in the local region, according to a report in the AJC. It’s primary local offices are in Buckhead.
During a recent call with financial analysts, Benioff said: “we’re looking squarely at what’s going on in Georgia with House Bill 757, which means that we may have to reduce our investments in the state of Georgia, based on what we’re seeing with the state government there as well. And I hope that they see the light the way that the state of Indiana did.”
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