Lou Gerstner: Former Chairman and CEO of IBM

Lou Gerstner: Former Chairman and CEO of IBM

Business Owner · Information Technology

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Lou Gerstner ran IBM from 1993 to 2002, is largely credited with its turnaround, and wrote Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? about the transformation.

About Lou Gerstner: Former Chairman and CEO of IBM

Louis Vincent Gerstner Jr. (March 1, 1942 to December 27, 2025) was an American businessman, best known as chairman and chief executive officer of IBM from April 1993 until 2002, when he retired as CEO in March and as chairman in December. He is largely credited with turning IBM's fortunes around. Gerstner was also CEO of RJR Nabisco and held senior positions at American Express and McKinsey & Company, and was chairman of Gerstner Philanthropies. He was a graduate of Chaminade High School (1959), Dartmouth College (1963) and Harvard Business School (MBA, 1965). He chaired the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and was chairman emeritus of the board of the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He wrote Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? about IBM's transformation and co-authored Reinventing Education: Entrepreneurship in America's Public Schools. Gerstner was born in Mineola, New York, and wrote in his book that his parents had remortgaged their house every four years to pay for his schooling. Sources: English Wikipedia (Louis V. Gerstner Jr., accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Former chairman and CEO, IBM (1993-2002) (1942-2025)

Company Details

IBM / RJR Nabisco (former CEO)

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