By: Hannah Norman
Salesforce has promoted Keith Block, who most recently held the title of chief operating officer, to co-CEO alongside Mark Benioff.
A 26-year Oracle veteran, Block was originally hired on at the cloud software giant as president and vice chairman in 2013, overseeing global sales, strategy and various other channels.
“The biggest mistake (Oracle CEO) Mark Hurd ever made was letting Keith Block leave Oracle, because he’s probably the best sales executive the enterprise software industry has ever seen,” Benioff told reporters in 2014.
Then three years later, Block took on the role of chief operating officer, in charge of the company’s daily operations.
“Keith has been my trusted partner in running Salesforce for the past five years, and I’m thrilled to welcome him as co-CEO,” Benioff said in a statement, praising Block’s “outstanding operational expertise” and “corporate leadership experience.”
In their new dual executive roles, Benioff will continue as the board’s chairman and remain at the helm of Salesforce’s “vision and innovation in areas including technology, marketing, stakeholder engagement and culture,” according to Salesforce. Block will continue to be in charge of the company’s operations, as well as growth strategy and execution.
Block called Benioff’s success and the company culture he’s created “unparalleled.”
“I’m honored to be co-CEO and to leverage each of our strengths as we lead Salesforce, our employees, customers and partners into the future,” he said in a statement.