Salesforce’s Benioff laments co-CEO ‘gut punch’ exit, as shares fall. But we're sticking with the stock

Published Wed, Nov 30 20227:18 PM ESTUpdated Wed, Nov 30 20228:05 PM EST

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 personality. But we continue to see upside in holding this cloud play. Benioff co-founded Salesforce in 1999. "It's a gut punch. You know, running a company, and I've been doing this now for 25 years — you look for the best people in the world to bring them in," Benioff said in an interview with Jim Cramer Wednesday. "And the hardest part is when they tell you that they want to leave, and that's where we are with Bret," he added of Taylor's decision to move on from Salesforce next year. Benioff maintained that the company plans to stick to its $10 billion stock buyback program , announced earlier this year, despite the stock's decline. Shares of Salesforce have fallen nearly 37% over the past year. "We have bought back, I believe it's well over $1 billion so far, and will continue to be on the market and looking to deliver even a greater return for our shareholders," Benioff said. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long CRM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 25th, 2022.

Adam Galica | CNBC