Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he won't be Hillary Clinton's running mate (CRM)

Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has often been mentioned as a possible running mate candidate for Hillary Clinton.

Those rumors seemed to gain steam this week after Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle that Clinton was looking at "potentially bringing in" a business leader like Benioff or Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to her campaign, citing two unnamed sources.

But it looks like Benioff could officially be scratched off Clinton's candidate list, as he told Business Insider he's not interested in the job.

"I'm flattered, but I already have a job. I support Hillary — she is by far the most qualified candidate to lead our country in these challenging times," Benioff said in an email.

Benioff would have been a good choice for Clinton. He's one of the most vocal business leaders when it comes to social and political issues, and he has a good track record of pressuring certain lawmakers to make changes to potentially discriminatory laws. His position also fit in well with the tech initiative Clinton laid out earlier this week.

There's been some speculation that Benioff's array of activist campaigns was aimed at one day running for office. Some Salesforce employees even questioned his real intent and asked him about it at a recent all-hands meeting, to which Benioff responded "I'd be a terrible politician," according to The Wall Street Journal.

The chances of seeing a Clinton-Benioff ticket is likely gone, but Clinton could still nab a tech billionaire as her running mate; Mark Cuban recently said he'd "absolutely" consider being Clinton's running mate.

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