Salesforce.com president to leave post
As president of operations, Sueltz, a high-tech veteran and former star executive at Sun Microsystems, is in charge of marketing, technology research and development, and systems engineering at Salesforce. She reports directly to Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff.
Sueltz still technically holds that position but has taken the last several weeks off and does not plan to return, several sources close to the company said.
A Salesforce representative said Sueltz is still employed by the company and declined to comment on her departure. Sueltz could not be immediately reached for comment. Her Salesforce voice mail said she's out of the office and checking neither voice nor Email messages. Her Email out-of-office auto-reply directs people to send personal messages to another Email account.
Salesforce has been a company to watch ever since its initial public offering last year. The San Francisco company has also made a name for itself with its mission of turning the business software industry upside-down with a pay-by-the-month business model that requires no software installation.
Whether Sueltz is resigning or is being dismissed is unclear, but her exit is unexpected. Salesforce hired her last year with much fanfare over her credentials. Under her watch, Sun's services unit posted record revenue even as the company lost ground in other areas. She also has two decades at IBM under her belt, and Fortune Magazine once ranked her one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business."
One source said her recent absence from Salesforce has to do with an illness in her family, but others say it's because she never really clicked at the company. In particular, Benioff was not pleased with a product launch the company did earlier this year, and, as head of marketing, Sueltz took the heat for it, according to one former Salesforce executive who wished to remain anonymous.
The fact that Sueltz shares the president title with Jim Steele, president of distribution, may have been a source of friction and another factor in her departure.
