International Business Machines Inc. shares fell Friday after the company announced that Jim Whitehurst was stepping down as president.
IBM IBM, -4.64% shares were last down 4.5% at $140.28 and were the worst performing stock on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.44% Friday.
Whitehurst became IBM president in January 2020, the same time Arvind Krishna was appointed chief executive, after the company’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, which closed in July 2019. Whitehurst had served as Red Hat’s CEO at the time of the deal.
In a statement, IBM’s Krishna did not give a reason for Whitehurst stepping down as president but said Whitehurst would continue on as a senior adviser. A successor to Whitehurst was not named.
Over the past 12 months, IBM shares have grown 17% while the Dow has advanced 35% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.75% has risen 39%.
