Louis Gerstner, the man who saved IBM, dies at 83 — industry mourns the passing of transformative CEO

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Louis Gerstner, the man who saved IBM, dies at 83 — industry mourns the passing of transformative CEO

"I am saddened to share that Lou Gerstner, IBM's chairman and CEO from 1993 to 2002, passed away yesterday," wrote Arvind Krishna, the current chairman and chief exec of IBM. "Lou arrived at IBM at a moment when the company's future was genuinely uncertain. The industry was changing rapidly, our business was under pressure, and there was serious debate about whether IBM should even remain whole. His leadership during that period reshaped the company. Not by looking backward, but by focusing relentlessly on what our clients would need next."

I was privileged to learn and experience the leadership of Lou Gerstner early in my career at @IBM. He was amazingly curious and insightful about technology. So honored to have had a chance to work with him. My condolences are with Lou’s family and the extended @ibm family. December 28, 2025

"I was privileged to learn and experience the leadership of Lou Gerstner early in my career at IBM," wrote Lisa Su, chairman and chief executive of AMD. "He was amazingly curious and insightful about technology. So honored to have had a chance to work with him. My condolences are with Lou's family and the extended IBM family."

"Yesterday, we lost Lou Gerstner, IBM's iconic and legendary CEO from 1993 to 2002," wrote Gina Rometty, the former CEO and chairman of IBM. "Lou was my very dear friend and mentor. Much will be written about Lou's immense contributions to IBM and his philanthropic efforts, but I would like to speak about Lou the person. I first met Lou in the 1990s, and admired him immediately. He was a brilliant, principled leader who led with intellect, not fear. Lou could cut through to the heart of any issue with penetrating questions. One of the most valuable things he taught me was the importance of preparation. Not long after we met, we were getting ready for a client meeting when Lou told me that he’d been reading a book, The Greatest Generation , because it included a chapter on the CEO we were going to visit. I couldn’t believe he was researching so diligently, and I thought, 'if the CEO takes time to prepare, so should I.' […]"

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Anton Shilov Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

Heat_Fan89 RIP Lou! You were an amazing CEO. You helped make American Express the giant it is today. And you saved IBM from dying a slow death. I was still in the computer industry and the IBM culture still had its grip on IBM. You saw that elephants can dance and identified that in order for IBM to not only survive but to grow, it had to change with the times and not lean on its mainframe business because businesses were also changing with the times. Today, IBM is in a much better place thanks to your vision and leadership. Reply

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  1. Louis Gerstner, the man who saved IBM, dies at 83 — industry mourns the passing of transformative CEO
  2. Louis Gerstner, the man who saved IBM, dies at 83 — industry mourns the passing of transformative CEO
  3. Louis Gerstner, the man who saved IBM, dies at 83 — industry mourns the passing of transformative CEO
  4. Louis Gerstner, the man who saved IBM, dies at 83 — industry mourns the passing of transformative CEO

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