Departing Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block is known as a 'strong operator' who also made a sudden exit at Oracle

• Keith Block, the departing co-CEO of Salesforce, first joined the company in 2013 after a sudden and unexpected departure from Oracle.
• Block had been a respected sales executive at Oracle before clashing with the late Mark Hurd, who had been co-president, when Block led the tech giant's North America sales organization.
• Their feud turned nasty public after Block's text messages denigrating Hurd became public. In one message to a colleague, Block called Hurd "lots of noise, not much results."
• Block quickly became a star executive at Salesforce where he was named co-CEO in 2018.
• "Keith Block is a super strong operator" who "presided over tremendous growth at Salesforce and had a big role in shaping what the company is today," IDC President Crawford Del Prete told Business Insider.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Keith Block's surprising exit as Salesforce co-CEO caps what had been an impressive run at the tech powerhouse he helped lead against his former company, Oracle.

Salesforce said Tuesday that Block is stepping down as founder Marc Benioff's co-CEO. Block will remain as an adviser to Benioff, who will become sole CEO.

Block's unexpected departure at Salesforce marks yet another sudden exit in a distinguished, though sometimes controversial, career in the business software market.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Block's Oracle career

Block joined Salesforce in 2013 after a distinguished 26-year career at rival Oracle where he played a critical sales role. Block had been head of Oracle's North America sales organization. But Block's Oracle career hit a rough spot after he clashed with the late Mark Hurd, who was then co-president with Safra Catz.

The feud turned nasty when Block's text messages denigrating Hurd and the Oracle hardware business were made public during a 2012 court case with Hewlett-Packard.

Block complained to another Oracle executive that as Oracle president, Hurd was "lots of noise, not much results," and said Hurd should "be a f------ global president."

Block also blasted the decision to buy server giant Sun Microsystems in 2010, saying the business was "dead, dead, dead." Block also said: "We bought a dog...Mark wants us to sell the dog."

The messages quickly led to speculation that Block was on the way out which also sent Oracle's stock price to slide at the time. Oracle subsequently confirmed that Block had left the company.

A superstar at Salesforce

Salesforce quickly moved in to hire Block who is widely respected as an enterprise software sales leader.

The hire was widely considered a coup for Salesforce, whose founder Benioff, was also an Oracle alum who was known for public feuds with Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

Block's reputation and experience as a respected enterprise sales leader were also seen as giving Salesforce a major edge. Block joined Salesforce as president and chief operating officer. He was named co-CEO in 2018.

Salesforce was so impressed with Block's performance the company soon rewarded him with a $211,703 car and an $86,423 watch.

IDC President Crawford Del Prete described Block as a super strong operator," who "presided over tremendous growth at Salesforce and had a big role in shaping what the company is today."

"At the same time, it's clear that Marc likes doing a lot of things, and one of them is running Salesforce," he told Business Insider.

What's next for Block? He speculated that Block will "will take on a role running" another cloud software company.

Got a tip about Salesforce or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @benpimentel or send him a secure message through Signal at (510) 731-8429. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.