Bret Taylor steps down as co-CEO of Salesforce

Bret Taylor, whose career in tech can only be described as prolific, has stepped down as co-CEO of Salesforce.

Salesforce said Wednesday that Bret Taylor will step down as co-CEO on Jan. 31, leaving Marc Benioff alone again at the top of the cloud software company he co-founded in 1999.

Benioff closely embraced Taylor, who joined the company in 2016, when he sold his productivity software startup Quip to Salesforce. … His departure is surprise considering how rapidly he climbed the ranks and gained the trust of Benioff and the board. Two months ago, Benioff and Taylor were speaking together on stage at the company’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. … The announcement also calls into question Benioff’s ability to work alongside someone with an equal title.

I Gotta Feeling that Benioff is already working on his next co-CEO: Will.i.am. Does that make any sense? Of course not! But that rarely stops any technology company getting involved with Will.i.am, so why start now?