Ben Horowitz: Here Are The Only Three Reasons Why Having Two CEOs Can Work

WorkdayDave Duffield and Aneel BhusriEven though Workday cofounder and co-CEO David Duffield is 72 and a billionaire who pays himself a meager $33,280 salary (plus a few million in stock), he's not a figurehead CEO.

He works in the office every day, a Workday executive told us, because he wants to be a good role model for his 10 children. The youngest still lives at home, while two of his adult children work for Workday, too (Michael Duffield and Amy Zeifang).

So, why share the CEO title with cofounder Aneel Bhusri? Via a column posted to AllThingsD, venture capitalist Ben Horowitz said the situation works for three reasons:

1. Duffield thinks of Aneel as the sole heir to the CEO throne. So he's content to let Aneel make decisions, offer advise when needed, manage his part of the company and other tasks Bhusri asks of him, Horowitz said.
2. They've worked together for over 20 years, since back at the last company Duffield founded and ran PeopleSoft. They've built up decades of trust. "They are not just co-workers or friends; they are family," Horowitz wrote.
3. Duffield is 26 years older than Aneel, "so, there is no chance for a sibling rivalry," Horowitz adds.

But Workday aside, Horowitz says that the co-CEO structure is a generally bad idea because it's too tempting for one CEO to want to override the other. Even at his own company, Andreessen Horowitz, cofounded with Marc Andreessen, there's one main boss: COO Scott Kupor.