Louis Gerstner, Former IBM CEO Who Engineered Historic Turnaround, Dies at 83
GeokHub
Contributing Writer
NEW YORK, Dec 28 (GeokHub) Louis V. Gerstner Jr., the former chairman and chief executive of IBM, whose leadership is widely credited with rescuing the company from the brink of collapse and transforming it into a global services powerhouse, has died at the age of 83, the company said on Sunday.
IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna announced Gerstner’s death in an email to employees. No cause of death was disclosed.
“Lou arrived at IBM at a moment when the company’s future was genuinely uncertain,” Krishna wrote. “His leadership reshaped the company — not by looking backward, but by focusing relentlessly on what our clients would need next.”
The Man Who Saved ‘Big Blue’
Gerstner joined IBM in April 1993, becoming the first outsider to lead the company, known as “Big Blue.” At the time, IBM was struggling under mounting losses and was widely viewed as a potential bankruptcy candidate.
Over the nine years he led the company, Gerstner spearheaded one of the most celebrated corporate turnarounds in modern business history. He shifted IBM’s strategy away from hardware dominance toward business services and consulting, reshaped its internal culture, cut costs aggressively, sold non-core assets, and authorized major stock buybacks.
When Gerstner retired as CEO in 2002, IBM’s stock had risen by roughly 800% from the start of his tenure.
Career Beyond IBM
Before joining IBM, Gerstner served as CEO of RJR Nabisco, and earlier held senior roles at American Express and management consultancy McKinsey & Co.
After leaving IBM, he became chairman of global private equity firm The Carlyle Group, a role he held until his retirement in 2008.
Gerstner also served on the boards of several major corporations, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, The New York Times, American Express, AT&T, and Caterpillar.
Author, Philanthropist and Education Advocate
Gerstner chronicled IBM’s turnaround in his bestselling memoir, “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?”, and later co-authored “Reinventing Education: Entrepreneurship in America’s Public Schools.”
A strong advocate for public education, he launched initiatives at IBM to deploy company technology in schools across the United States.
In 1989, he founded Gerstner Philanthropies, including the Gerstner Family Foundation, which focuses on biomedical research, education, environmental causes and social services, particularly in New York City, Boston and Palm Beach County, Florida.
