Memo: Slack CEO and co-founder Stewart Butterfield plans to leave Salesforce in January 2023, saying the move “has nothing to do” with Bret Taylor's departure
Context & Ripple Effects
Salesforce had positioned Bret Taylor as Marc Benioff’s co-CEO after earlier expectations that Taylor would become CEO. His announced exit returns sole leadership to Benioff, while the executive who architected Salesforce’s $27.7B Slack acquisition is also leaving the company.
Butterfield’s departure removes Slack’s co-founder during the same leadership transition, despite his statement that it is unrelated to Taylor’s move. The paired exits matter because Taylor’s planned co-CEO departure and Butterfield’s exit both take effect in January.
First-order effects
- Salesforce must redistribute Slack leadership after Butterfield leaves, while Marc Benioff becomes the company’s sole CEO following Taylor’s departure.
- Slack loses its co-founder inside Salesforce at the point when the executive associated with its acquisition is also exiting.
Second-order effects
- Salesforce’s Slack organization will face a more consequential internal transition because both its founder and the senior executive tied to the acquisition are departing in the same month.
- Benioff assumes clearer responsibility for maintaining Slack’s place within Salesforce without Taylor as co-CEO or Butterfield as Slack’s leader.
Third-order effects
- If Salesforce continues to lose leaders associated with major acquisitions and succession planning, the company’s ability to retain product autonomy after deals will become a central test of its operating model.
The trend: Salesforce is moving into a post-successor, post-founder phase in which Benioff’s sole leadership must carry both corporate continuity and acquired-product stewardship.