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On the heels of naming Salesforce at the top of its Future 50 list of innovators, Fortune has honored CEO Marc Benioff at #3 on its Businessperson of the Year list, taking note of his "creating a new model for selling software." Fortune’s report recognizes that while Benioff is widely known for his purpose- and cause-driven work, his business acumen has ushered in profound change.

“The uninitiated observer of online software purveyor Salesforce would be forgiven for not knowing that Benioff is a businessman,” writes Adam Lashinsky. “He tends to speak foremost about causes like health care and education and oceans and equality. It’s such a long list, really, that it often takes Benioff a while to get around to discussing revenues and products and business strategy. But make no mistake: Business is one of Benioff’s passions, and by creating a new model for selling software he’s been able to build Salesforce into a fast-growing enterprise with nearly $10 billion in revenue — which helps the CEO focus on all those areas that need his attention.”

In a recent conversation with Fortune, Benioff said he spends 95 percent of his time on Salesforce, and “5 percent is on a lot of the issues and things that are really important to me.”

Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year feature is available here.