Block Whale (Keith Block)

Block Whale (Keith Block)

Biography

2013: Coming to Salesforce.com

In June 2013, Keith Block joined Salesforce.com as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Director.

2016: Appointment as COO Salesforce.com

In February 2016, Keith Block became Chief Operating Officer Salesforce.com.

2018: Appointment as CEO Salesforce.com

On August 7, 2018, Salesforce.com had his second general director Keith Block, who was promoted from the role of chief operating officer. So. the company will be led by two people - Block and Marc Benioff. The latter, who has led the Salesforce.com since the company was founded in 1999, remained chairman of the board of directors.

As head of the Salesforce.com, Keith Block will be responsible for the company's growth strategy, management and operational work, while Benioff will focus on the development of ideology and innovation, as well as technology, marketing, culture and interaction with shareholders, partners and customers.

This will allow Benioff to do what it does best, as well as dump some of the burden of responsibility. This is a big company that continues to grow. They need a stable management structure, - said JMP Securities analyst Pat Walravens.

In his opinion, Marc Benioff, without any unexpected circumstances, is unlikely to leave the Salesforce.com in the near future, if only because he turned only 53 in 2018.

A management structure involving the presence of two CEOs has been in place at Oracle (Salesforce.com 's main competitor) since 2014, when Larry Ellison split head duties between Safra Katz and Mark Hurd, who focused on financial work/deals and sales/marketing, respectively. Bloomberg notes that such a separation works. The 73-year-old Ellison continues to be involved in Oracle management by August 2018.

In a March 2018 interview with Bloomberg, Keith Block said he and Marc Benioff were "great partners."

Along with the appointment of Keith Block as co-CEO, Salesforce.com announced that co-founder and CTO Parker Harris had joined the company's board of directors.^[1]

2024: Investing in peripheral computing developer Zededa

In February 2024, it became known about investing $72 million in Zededa. The funding round was led by Smith Point Capital, a venture capital fund created by former Salesforce CEO Keith Block. Read more here.

Notes