IBM President Whitehurst Exits in CEO’s Shake-Up; Shares Dip

(Bloomberg) -- International Business Machines Corp. President Jim Whitehurst is stepping down after three years at the century-old technology company.

The move marks one of the first major corporate reshuffles under Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna, who took the helm last year and has moved quickly to reshape IBM and return it to growth. Whitehurst, 53, is the former CEO of Red Hat Inc., which IBM announced it was acquiring in 2018 for $33 billion as part of Krishna’s focus on fast-growing technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud-computing services.

Whitehurst’s departure is one of several management moves IBM announced on Friday. Whitehurst “decided to step down,” IBM said, and he will continue working as a senior adviser. IBM didn’t announce a replacement. IBM shares tumbled 4.7% on the news.

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