Barely more than a year after Salesforce.com poached Patricia Sueltz from Sun Microsystems to head the hosted CRM (customer relationship management) vendor's marketing and operations, Sueltz has quietly left the company.
Salesforce.com said in a regulatory filing that Sueltz resigned last Tuesday as its president of global operations.
Sueltz was a high-profile catch for the CRM upstart, which appointed her to the job several months before a closely watched IPO (initial public offering) that left Salesforce.com with a market valuation of more than US$1 billion. Sueltz had previously served as head of Sun's services group, a position she took after several decades in various roles at IBM. When Sueltz joined Salesforce.com, she said she had not actively sought a position outside Sun but was won over by Salesforce.com founder and Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff's technical vision and the unusual, philanthropically minded corporate culture he fostered at Salesforce.com.
Salesforce.com will pay Sueltz a lump-sum severance of $650,000 upon her resignation, effective May 31. Her departure leaves executive Jim Steele as the company's sole president, overseeing sales.
Sueltz could not be reached for comment. Salesforce.com's Benioff said the company has no immediate plans to fill Sueltz's position, and is comfortable with its current executive lineup. Benioff praised Sueltz's performance and attributed her departure to a desire on her part to explore other opportunities.