Who Owns Marketing Cloud?
Marketing Cloud is owned by Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), the publicly traded cloud software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Built on the 2013 acquisition of ExactTarget for $2.5 billion, Marketing Cloud provides email marketing, customer journeys, advertising automation, social listening, and marketing analytics across the Salesforce platform.
Parent Company
Acquired
2013
Status
Publicly Traded
Headquarters
Marketing Cloud Timeline
Who Owns Marketing Cloud?
- Parent Company: Salesforce, Inc.
- Ownership Type: Product line
- Acquisition Year: 2013
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock Ticker: NYSE: CRM
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing Cloud | Salesforce, Inc. | Product line |
History of Marketing Cloud
- Founded: 2013
- Founders: ExactTarget (acquired)
- Acquired by Salesforce, Inc.: 2013
ExactTarget, founded in 2000 in Indianapolis by Scott Dorsey, Chris Baggott, and Peter McCormick, was a leading email marketing and marketing automation provider. Salesforce acquired it in July 2013 for approximately $2.5 billion, at the time Salesforce's largest acquisition, and used it to form Marketing Cloud.
Salesforce consolidated additional acquisitions under the brand: Buddy Media (2012, social marketing), Krux (2016, data management platform), and Datorama (2018, marketing analytics). The platform unified email, mobile, social, advertising, and web personalization into a single marketing suite.
The brand underwent repositioning in 2022 and 2024 as Salesforce introduced Marketing Cloud Growth and Marketing Cloud Advanced editions built natively on the core Salesforce platform, reducing reliance on the legacy ExactTarget architecture. By 2026, Marketing Cloud incorporates Data Cloud customer data and Agentforce AI agents for autonomous campaign creation, segmentation, and journey optimization.
About Salesforce, Inc.
What does Salesforce own?
Salesforce owns approximately 10 product platforms including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Agentforce, Data 360, Slack, Tableau, MuleSoft, and AppExchange. The company acquired Slack for approximately $27.7 billion in 2021, Tableau for approximately $15.7 billion in 2019, MuleSoft for approximately $6.5 billion in 2018, and Informatica for approximately $8 billion in 2025.
Is Salesforce publicly traded?
Yes, Salesforce is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CRM. The company went public in June 2004 and is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Major institutional investors include Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street Corporation.
Who founded Salesforce?
Salesforce was founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez in San Francisco, California. Benioff, a former Oracle executive, continues to serve as Chairman and CEO.
Where is Salesforce headquartered?
Salesforce is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA. The company's headquarters, Salesforce Tower, is the tallest office building in San Francisco. Salesforce operates globally with major offices across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
How many brands does Salesforce own?
Salesforce owns approximately 10 product platforms. The most recognizable are Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Slack, Tableau, MuleSoft, and Agentforce. The company does not operate consumer-facing brands; all products are enterprise software sold on a subscription basis.
Who owns Salesforce?
Salesforce is a publicly traded corporation with a dispersed shareholder base. No single shareholder controls the company. Major institutional investors hold significant stakes, but none exercise operational control. Co-founder Marc Benioff owns approximately 3 percent of outstanding shares and maintains influence through his founder status and role as Chairman and CEO.
What is Salesforce's revenue?
Salesforce reported full fiscal year 2026 revenue of $41.5 billion, up 10 percent year over year. The company initiated fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion and raised its fiscal 2030 revenue target to $63 billion.
- Founded: 1999
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock: NYSE: CRM
- Revenue: $41.5 billion (FY2026, ended January 2026)
- Employees: Approximately 80,000
Where Is Marketing Cloud Made / Based?
- Headquarters: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Marketing Cloud Categories & Tags
Marketing Cloud Recalls & Controversies
Marketing Cloud's complexity has drawn criticism for requiring specialized implementation, and the platform's architecture fragmentation between legacy ExactTarget systems and newer native components has created migration challenges for customers. Email deliverability and pricing model concerns are standard complaints in the marketing automation category.
Brands Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
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Agentic AI platform of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), launched in October 2024, enabling autonomous AI agents for sales, service, marketing, and commerce workflows.
artificial-intelligenceai-agentsautomation
Technology SoftwareMuleSoft
Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
API management and integration platform owned by Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), acquired in 2018 for $6.5 billion, providing the Anypoint Platform for enterprise connectivity.
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Technology SoftwareSales Cloud
Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
Sales automation and CRM application of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), providing lead management, opportunity tracking, forecasting, and AI-powered selling tools.
crmsales-softwaresaas
Technology SoftwareSalesforce Platform
Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
Core customer relationship management platform of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), the cloud software company founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco.
crmsaascloud-computing
Technology SoftwareService Cloud
Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
Customer service and support platform of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), providing case management, omnichannel support, field service, and AI-powered service agents.
customer-servicesaascontact-center
Technology SoftwareSlack
Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
Team collaboration and messaging platform featuring channels, direct messaging, file sharing, and integrations for workplace communication. Owned by Salesforce.
team-collaborationworkplace-messagingproductivity
Marketing Cloud Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Deep integration with the world's largest CRM platform
- +Unified customer data through Data Cloud
- +Agentforce AI enables autonomous campaign building and personalization
- +Large installed base and certified partner ecosystem
Considerations
- -Complex product architecture with legacy ExactTarget components
- -Premium pricing versus HubSpot and specialist competitors
- -B2B marketing offering (Account Engagement) trails dedicated platforms
- -Migration effort required for customers on legacy editions
Frequently Asked Questions About Marketing Cloud
Sources & Further Reading
Competitors to Marketing Cloud
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because Marketing Cloudoperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
Independent Alternatives to Marketing Cloud
Looking for brands with different ownership structures? These similar brands are not owned by Salesforce, Inc., giving you alternative choices that support different corporate structures.
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Wrike is privately owned, unlike Marketing Cloud which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwareHPE
Owned by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
Flagship brand of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, covering enterprise servers, storage, hybrid cloud, and AI infrastructure products sold to business and government customers worldwide.
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HPE operates independently without a large parent corporation.
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OmniPlan is privately owned, unlike Marketing Cloud which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwareOverture
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Music notation software developed by Don Williams and published by Sonic Scores, providing professional music composition and score editing capabilities for musicians and composers.
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Overture is privately owned, unlike Marketing Cloud which is under a publicly traded parent company.
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Procreate is privately owned, unlike Marketing Cloud which is under a publicly traded parent company.
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Shaadi.com is privately owned, unlike Marketing Cloud which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Salesforce, Inc. Stock Information
Jobs at Salesforce, Inc.
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