Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block Steps Down -- Update

By Sarah E. Needleman 

Salesforce.com Inc. said its co-chief executive Keith Block is stepping down from his role, just 18 months after taking the job, ending for now a brief experiment with dual CEOs that leaves Marc Benioff solely in charge of the business-software provider.

Mr. Block, a longtime Oracle Corp. executive, joined Salesforce in 2013 as president and vice chairman. He became co-CEO in 2018 in an unusual setup that paired him with Mr. Benioff, a Salesforce co-founder with a wide array of outside interests that now include ownership of Time magazine. Mr. Block had oversight of the company's growth strategy and day-to-day operations.

"After a fantastic run I am ready for my next chapter and will stay close to the company as an advisor," he said in a statement. The company didn't provide additional comment.

Salesforce said its revenue more than quadrupled over Mr. Block's time at the company to more than $17 billion in the year ended Jan. 31.

Founded in 1999, Salesforce has evolved to become one of the largest providers of software products for businesses.

The twin-CEO structure has had a mixed record at the small number of companies that have tried it over the years.

Oracle had such a structure but abandoned it after the death of Mark Hurd last year, leaving Safra Catz as the database provider's sole chief executive. German rival SAP SE adopted a co-CEO leadership team last year.

A leadership duo at Deutsche Bank AG struggled after a series of financial missteps and regulatory penalties led both co-CEOs to resign in 2015.

The executive change at Salesforce came as the company reported swinging to a net loss of $248 million from a profit of $548 million a year earlier. Excluding items such as stock-based compensation, Salesforce posted a profit of 66 cents a share, compared with a profit of 70 cents a share a year earlier.

Sales in the quarter increased 35% to $4.85 billion, compared with the $4.76 billion that analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected.

Salesforce also Tuesday named Gavin Patterson, a former chief of BT Group PLC, as president and chief of Salesforce International. Mr. Patterson was most recently Salesforce's chair of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company said he now oversees its largest markets outside of the U.S.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2020 17:15 ET (22:15 GMT)

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