Salesforce is doubling down on its number of CEOs.
The company promoted its COO Keith Block to the role of CEO earlier this month, a role he will share with longtime Salesforce CEO and founder Marc Benioff. Both will report to the company’s board.
Prior to working at Salesforce, Block was employed at Oracle for 25 years, working his way up to Executive Vice President of North America Sales & Consulting.
Though unexpected, Block’s promotion comes at a strong time for the company. The company’s most recent revenue earnings report surpassed $3 billion for the first time, with 25% growth year-on-year while share price exceeded 60% in the past twelve months. The numbers have been nothing short of astounding for investors. Block was even able to take the company past $10 billion yearly revenue goal in 2017. The feat established the company as the fastest growing enterprise software company in the world.
To reach those kinds of numbers, Block focused on global development. Fully 40% of the company’s hires during that period were international, and the company continues to think on an international scale.
As co-CEO of Salesforce, Block will continue to lead the company’s global sales, alliances and channels, industry strategy, customer success and consulting services. Benioff has firmly established his role as catering to product, technology and culture. In this capacity Benioff has brought the company along quite a bit, investing $8 million in a high profile bid to eliminate the wage gap at the company and instituting LGBTQ-friendly policies.
The organization has always prided itself on a clear division of C-Suite responsibilities, a move which will undoubtedly make the new transition go smoother.
Although somewhat unique, the concept of having two CEOs fits in well with Salesforce’s ambitious agenda. The company shooting for $23 billion in revenue by 2020 and $60 billion in revenues by 2034. They are lofty goals, but the management team is betting big that the co-CEO strategy is the right one to take them there.
