IBM CEO Luo Ruilan steps down and takes over as head of cloud computing Ke Shina
According to foreign media reports, on January 30, IBM, an IT giant in the United States and even the world, appointed Alvind Kirchner as its CEO, replacing Virginia Loreland, the long-time CEO.
According to foreign media reports, Kirchner is currently the head of IBM's cloud computing and cognitive software department, and also the main "designer" of the acquisition transaction of Red Hat (Linux open source software company) completed by the company last year.
IBM said in a statement on Thursday that Luo Ruilan, 62, will continue to serve as executive chairman until the end of her term, when she will retire after nearly 40 years of work in the company. After the news came out, IBM shares rose about 5% in after hours trading.
Since becoming the first female CEO of IBM in 2012, Luo Ruilan has staked the company's future on the hybrid cloud computing market, which allows enterprises to store data on private and public cloud networks operated by competitors Amazon Cloud Computing and Microsoft Azure.
Once, as the world's technology leader, the Blue Giant has been lagging behind in the cloud computing market for many years. Under the leadership of her predecessor Sam Palmisano, IBM basically missed the initial cloud revolution. Most of IBM's revenue still comes from its traditional and old businesses, such as mainframe computers.
In 2018, Loreland acquired Red Hat, an open source software provider, for $34 billion, leaving a legacy of his tenure. This deal is intended to help the company get rid of its insignificant position in an industry dominated by young technology giants. After the announcement of the transaction, IBM recorded negative growth for five consecutive quarters, but broke the momentum in the fourth quarter of 2019, which indicates that the company may finally turn the situation around.
However, unlike most large technology companies, IBM is now smaller than when Loreland came to power. When she took office, the company's market value exceeded $200 billion and its revenue exceeded $100 billion. Since the end of 2012, the sales volume has dropped by more than a quarter, and the company's market value has dropped by 49%. The current market value is about 120 billion dollars.
Luo Ruilan spent the normal tenure and average retirement years of CEO at IBM. Three of her four previous IBM CEOs retired at the age of 60.
Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, was appointed as the new president of IBM. There is a lot of speculation on Wall Street that Whitehurst is competing for the top position of CEO.
Kirchner, 57, is the mastermind behind the Red Hat deal. He proposed this acquisition to Loreland and the board of directors, which also shows that he believes hybrid cloud computing is the best choice for the company's future growth. He led the development of many new technologies of IBM, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and quantum computing.
"He is a real leader, adhering to the values of IBM and assuming more and more responsibilities in the whole company," IBM said in a statement that he has restored the growth of IBM's cloud computing and software business.
Before becoming the CEO of IBM, Roland was responsible for the company's sales, marketing and strategy businesses. In addition, Luo Ruilan studies computer science and electrical engineering at Northwestern University.
Her official biography on IBM website praised her for leading the "successful integration of (acquired) PwC consulting company and creating a global team composed of more than 100000 business consultants and service experts."
Under the leadership of Luo Ruilan, IBM has put cloud computing services at a higher priority, and has withdrawn from some businesses, including the low-end server department sold to Lenovo Group in 2014. At the same time, the company has been wandering in the core markets such as mainframe and database software.
Although during her tenure, the company's market value and sales declined significantly, according to the regulatory documents recently submitted by the company, in 2018, Loreland's total salary exceeded $17.5 million.
