Marc Benioff has said to be preparing to stand down, maybe following in the footsteps of Jeff Bezos and moving to the chairperson of the board. Bret Taylor is rumored to be on the verge of a promotion. Taylor was promoted to co-CEO of Salesforce today, indicating that Benioff was not quite ready to retire yet. Taylor, who formerly served as president and chief operating officer, has been promoted to vice-chair and co-CEO, reporting to Benioff rather than directly to him.
Benioff believes this as a smart way to operate in the future, given that the firm has grown significantly in recent years, with large acquisitions like as the $15.7 billion Tableau transaction in 2019 or the $27.7 billion Slack deal, which Taylor oversaw, at the end of last year.
There is a lot of lands to cover, and it would be difficult for one individual to do it all by themselves. “We’re in a new era, and Salesforce has never been more important or crucial to our clients.” In a (bland) statement, Benioff stated, “Together, Bret and I will lead Salesforce into our next chapter, while fulfilling our shared values of trust, customer success, innovation, and equality for everyone.”
Taylor, as one might think, was grateful for the chance to work with Benioff at the top of the food chain. “It’s an incredible honor to work with him to head the firm he co-founded 22 years ago. Taylor stated in a statement, “I’m grateful for our Salesforce employees, Trailblazers, customers, and all of our stakeholders who help us make our company and our world a better place.”
This is not the first time the corporation has opted for a co-CEO arrangement. Keith Block held the position before this, commencing in 2018 and departing in 2020. Taylor, who was the CEO of the early social network FriendFeed, was also the CTO of Facebook from 2009 until 2012. In 2016, Salesforce purchased Quip for $750 million, and he joined the company. He rose through the ranks fast, leapfrogging other long-serving CEOs. In 2019, he was elevated to president and chief operating officer, putting him in second place after Benioff until today. Taylor has had a busy week, as he chose independent chairperson of the board of directors of Twitter on Tuesday.
