Salesforce (CRM) co-CEO Marc Benioff on Wednesday called the surprise departure of co-CEO Bret Taylor a loss for the company, while insisting the enterprise cloud giant could continue to return value to shareholders. On the same day that it reported a beat on its fiscal third-quarter results, Salesforce announced that Taylor, who was promoted to the co-chief executive position exactly a year ago, will step down from his post on Jan. 31. Benioff will remain sole CEO. The news sent Salesforce’s stock sliding, with shares down nearly 7% in afterhours trading, at $149.10 apiece. As longtime investors in Salesforce, we’re not surprised the news has spooked shareholders, given the potential risk the company could face being centered again around one personalit …
