CRM insider files: Benioff executes 10b5-1 trades totaling 2,250 shares
Rhea-AI Filing Summary
Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce, Inc. (CRM), reported transactions on 10/03/2025 showing the exercise of 2,250 stock options at an exercise price of $161.5 and contemporaneous sales of 2,250 common shares in multiple trades at weighted average prices ranging roughly from $238.75 to $242.51. After these transactions, the filing shows 11,911,571 shares directly owned and additional indirect holdings of 107,000 shares via trust and 10,000,000 shares held by the Marc Benioff Fund LLC.
The filing notes the trades were executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted on 01/09/2025, and the option exercised vests over four years with an initial 25% vesting on 03/22/2020. The transactions were signed by an attorney-in-fact on 10/06/2025.
Positive
- Trades executed under a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted on 01/09/2025, indicating pre-planned compliance with insider-trading rules>
- Substantial retained ownership: ~11.9M direct shares plus 10,107,000 indirect shares (107,000 trust + 10,000,000 Fund), showing continued long-term stake
Negative
- Sold 2,250 shares on 10/03/2025 at weighted average prices between $238.75 and $242.51, modestly reducing direct holdings>
Insights
Insider sold shares under a pre-established plan while retaining substantial ownership.
The CEO exercised 2,250 options at $161.5 and sold an equal number of shares at weighted average prices between $238.75 and $242.51, consistent with a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted on 01/09/2025. Using a 10b5-1 plan typically insulates scheduled trades from questions about contemporaneous access to nonpublic information, which supports procedural compliance.
Key dependencies include the continued adherence to the plan’s terms and no later amendments; monitor for future Form 4s in the coming weeks for additional plan-based trades or disclosures that could change the pattern.
Exercise and sale were tax-liquidity managing actions that did not materially change ultimate ownership.
The filing shows an option exercise (2,250 shares exercisable through 03/22/2026) and simultaneous sales totaling 2,250 shares, leaving the reporting person with about 11.9M direct shares plus 10.1M indirect holdings. The option’s original vesting schedule began with 25% on 03/22/2020, with monthly vesting thereafter, indicating routine compensation mechanics.
Watch for any large-scale exercises or systematic sales in subsequent filings that would meaningfully alter the >20M-share aggregate exposure implied by combined direct and indirect holdings within a 12-month window.
Insider Trade Summary
| Type | Security | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Non-qualified Stock Option (Right to Buy) | 2,250 | $0.00 | -- |
| Exercise | Common Stock | 2,250 | $161.50 | $363K |
| Sale | Common Stock | 238 | $239.3851 | $57K |
| Sale | Common Stock | 922 | $240.2721 | $222K |
| Sale | Common Stock | 851 | $241.2997 | $205K |
| Sale | Common Stock | 239 | $242.1285 | $58K |
| holding | Common Stock | -- | -- | -- |
| holding | Common Stock | -- | -- | -- |
Footnotes (1)
- As indicated by the checkbox above, this transaction was effected automatically pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by the reporting person on January 9, 2025. Shares held in the reporting person's name or in the Marc R. Benioff Revocable Trust. Weighted average price. These shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $238.7500 to $239.7334 inclusive. The reporting person undertakes to provide the issuer, any security holder of the issuer, or the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon request, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price within the range set forth above. Weighted average price. These shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $239.8377 to $240.8300 inclusive. The reporting person undertakes to provide the issuer, any security holder of the issuer, or the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon request, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price within the range set forth above. Weighted average price. These shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $240.8600 to $241.8500 inclusive. The reporting person undertakes to provide the issuer, any security holder of the issuer, or the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon request, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price within the range set forth above. Weighted average price. These shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $241.8600 to $242.5100 inclusive. The reporting person undertakes to provide the issuer, any security holder of the issuer, or the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon request, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price within the range set forth above. Shares held in the Marc Benioff Fund LLC (the "Fund"). Fund interests are held in the reporting person's name or in trust. Option vests over four years at the rate of 25% on March 22, 2020, the first anniversary of the holder's date of grant, with the balance vesting in equal monthly installments over the remaining 36 months.
