Re: IBM Names new CEO -- MIDRANGE-L

This is news to me guys.  Not long ago we were discussing reasons why Louis
was exercising his options with IBM stocks.  How about this new development?

Dare

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete Massiello" <pmassiello@os-solutions.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2002 2:11 PM
Subject: IBM Names new CEO


> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>   ARMONK, N.Y. -- International Business Machines Corp. named Samuel J.
> Palmisano chief executive, effective March 1, to replace Louis V.
> Gerstner, who will remain chairman through the end of the year.
>
> The news resolves speculation about IBM's succession plans, as Mr.
> Gerstner turns 60 years old March 1.
>
> Mr. Gerstner, who is credited with creating a remarkable turnaround at
> IBM since he took the CEO job in 1993, had ducked questions on just when
> he planned to step down.
>
> Mr. Gerstner's succession team was already in place. Mr. Palmisano, an
> IBM lifer named president in 2000, was widely seen as the heir apparent.
>
> Although IBM's board will have the final say, company officials expect
> 50-year-old Mr. Palmisano to replace Mr. Gerstner as chairman at the end
> of 2002, a company spokeswoman said. Mr. Palmisano became president and
> chief operating officer of the company in September 2000 after holding
> leadership positions in almost all of IBM's operating units.
>
> In another executive change, IBM's John M. Thompson will retire as vice
> chairman Sept. 1. His duties will be shared among "senior leaders" at
> the company, the spokeswoman added.
>
> During his tenure, Mr. Thompson, 59 years old, also served as president
> and chief executive of IBM Canada during the late 1980s.
>
> In midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of IBM (IBM)
> fell $3.65, or 3.4%, to $104.50.
>
> Some IBM watchers had said they saw signs that Mr. Gerstner may stick
> around past his 60th birthday, when his contract expires. The latest
> indication: Mr. Gerstner sent an e-mail to executives Wednesday saying
> that IBM's general counsel, Lawrence R. Ricciardi, 61 years old, is
> retiring in July. Mr. Ricciardi is widely known as Mr. Gerstner's
> consigliere.
>
> Mr. Gerstner joined IBM in 1993 in the midst of a financial crisis. He
> is widely credited with transforming the company into a
> "customer-focused global enterprise," according to an IBM press release.
>  From April 1993, when he joined Big Blue, through year-end 2001, the
> company's stock price increased by more than 800% and the market value
> grew by $180 billion.
>
> Mr. Palmisano is credited with building up services, which has become
> IBM's most significant business, and with developing a unifying strategy
> for IBM's various server lines. During his tenure as head of IBM Global
> Services, the unit's revenue grew nearly 30% to $32.2 billion.
>
> People who have watched the two men say their management styles are very
> different. Mr. Gerstner is imposing and autocratic, Mr. Palmisano
> gregarious but overtly competitive. With previous stints at management
> consultant McKinsey & Co., American Express Co. and RJR Nabisco, Mr.
> Gerstner was a computer-industry neophyte when he arrived in 1993 to
> rescue IBM in the throes of a financial crisis.
>
> Mr. Palmisano, on the other hand, is an IBM lifer, having spent nearly
> 30 years selling and developing information technology. He will take
> over what is now one of the industry's most financially sound companies.
>
> Mr. Thompson was largely responsible for building IBM's software group
> into a $13 billion business. He managed the company's acquisitions of
> Lotus Development Corp. and Tivoli Systems.
>
> Copyright (c) 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
>
>
>
>
> Pete Massiello
> OS Solutions International
> Phone: (203)-744-7854  Ext 11.
> http://www.os-solutions.com
> mailto:pmassiello@os-solutions.com
>
>
> --
>
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