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Lou Gerstnerwas an American businessman best known for the pivotal role he played in revitalizing the ailing IBM in the mid-1990s; he was the company’s chief executive officer from 1993 to 2002.
By 1970, he had become one of the youngest partners in the history of the firm and distinguished himself by overhauling the bankrupt Penn Central Railway. In January 1978, he joined American Express as executive vice president and head of its travel-related services division. Gerstner became president of the company in 1985, and during his four years in the position he increased corporate net income by 66%.
In March 1989, Gerstner became the new CEO of RJR Nabisco, which had been acquired the previous November by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in one of the largest leveraged buyouts in corporate history. As a result of the takeover, the company was saddled with $25 billion in debt, with annual interest costs of $3 billion. During his four-year tenure at Nabisco, Gerstner pared the debt to $14 billion, sold off $6 billion of peripheral assets, and trimmed general expenses.
IBM turnaround and leadership
In April 1993, he became the CEO of IBM, a position many considered the toughest in corporate America. Despite being the world’s largest computer manufacturer and one of the country’s leading companies, with $60 billion in sales, IBM was reeling from losses of $5 billion in 1992. In his first six months at the company’s helm, he faced criticism that he lacked vision by focusing on immediate cash management.
He froze some long-term projects and continued the cost-cutting measures begun in the late 1980s by ordering 35,000 additional layoffs and by reducing overhead costs and operating expenses. Gerstner also arranged an $8.9 billion write-off against company earnings—one of the largest in corporate history. IBM experienced a dramatic turnaround during the mid- to late 1990s, though Gerstner was criticized for using company profits to fund stock buybacks as a way to increase the stock’s share price. He stepped down as CEO of IBM in 2002.
Education initiatives
From 1996 to 2002, Gerstner was cochair of Achieve, an organization dedicated to pursuing academic excellence in public schools, and while with IBM he established the Reinventing Education program, which worked to integrate IBM technology into schools to assist in student improvement.
In January 2003, Gerstner became chair of the Carlyle Group, a leading private equity firm. After stepping down from that post in 2008, he served as a senior advisor to the group until 2016.
