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Salesforce.com president and chief strategy officer departs

Mass exec exodus?

The president of Salesforce.com has definitely left the building, and two other high-level execs have reportedly been laid off as well.

There may have been a bigger executive shakeup in recent weeks than the San Francisco business software maker has disclosed.

The company confirmed its president and chief strategy officer Steve Cakebread has resigned, effective February 1. According to a filing with the SEC, his resignation was for "personal reasons and does not involve any controversy or disagreement with the company."

Meanwhile, Reuters cites unnamed sources that say Salesforce also laid off Gary Hanna, executive vice president for enterprise sales and another unnamed senior veep.

When asked for confirmation, Salesforce told us they have "no comment on rumors and speculation, thanks."

All it was willing to divulge about the departures was a send-off quote for Cakebread.

"Steve did a remarkable job in his time here at salesforce.com, putting the people and processes in place to build an outstanding company. And we wish him all the best in his future endeavours," stated Bruce Francis, Salesforce corporate strategy veep.

Cakebread joined the company in May 2002, three years after its founding. According to the SEC report, he'll receive a severance payment of $200,000 and full payment of his 2009 fiscal year bonus of $225,000.

As for the allegedly laid-off veeps, while non-vital executives come and go all the time in big companies, it's not a stretch of the imagination to suspect a cost-cutting measure given the global recession. ®

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