Ginni Rometty facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ginni Rometty
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Rometty in 2011
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| Born |
Virginia Nicosia
July 29, 1957 |
| Education | Northwestern University (BS) |
| Spouse(s) | Mark Rometty (1979–present) |
Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, born on July 29, 1957, is a well-known American business leader. She made history as the first woman to become the chief executive officer (CEO) of IBM, a very large technology company. She worked at IBM for nearly 40 years, starting in 1981 as a systems engineer. She became the head of IBM in 2012 and stepped down in 2020.
During her time as CEO, Ginni Rometty focused IBM on new and exciting areas like cloud computing (storing data online) and artificial intelligence (AI). She also helped IBM buy a big consulting business called PricewaterhouseCoopers' IT consulting. She was recognized by many magazines for her influence and power in the business world.
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Early Life and School
Ginni Rometty was born Virginia Nicosia in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up near Chicago as the oldest of four children in an Italian-American family. When she was fifteen, her parents divorced, and her father left. Her mother worked many jobs to support the family, and Ginni helped take care of the household in the evenings.
In 1975, Ginni started attending Northwestern University in Illinois. She received a scholarship from General Motors and even interned there. She was also the president of her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. In 1979, she graduated with high honors, earning degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. She has also received special honorary degrees from other universities later in her career.
Career Journey
Starting Out: GM and IBM
After finishing college in 1979, Ginni Rometty first worked at General Motors. She helped develop computer applications and systems there. In 1981, she joined IBM in Detroit as a systems analyst and systems engineer. For her first ten years at IBM, she worked in technical roles, helping clients in different industries like insurance and banking. She quickly moved into management jobs, working with many types of businesses. By the late 1990s, she was helping companies like Prudential Financial, Inc. use the internet better.
Rising Through IBM Management
A big moment in Ginni Rometty's career came in 2002. As a general manager at IBM, she played a key role in helping IBM buy the consulting part of PricewaterhouseCoopers for $3.5 billion. This was a huge deal and helped IBM grow its services business. She was then given the important job of bringing these two large companies together. Time magazine even named her one of the top global business influencers that year.
From 2005 to 2009, she was a senior vice president at IBM, leading their Global Business Services. She also helped create IBM's "2015 Roadmap" in 2007. This plan aimed to shift IBM's focus from making computer hardware to growing in areas like software and services. In 2009, she became responsible for IBM's sales, marketing, and strategy, focusing on their fast-growing data analytics business. She also helped develop IBM's growth in new markets like Brazil and Vietnam. By 2011, she was known for leading IBM into cloud computing and analytics. She also helped prepare Watson, the computer that won Jeopardy!, for business use.
Leading IBM as CEO
On October 25, 2011, IBM announced that Ginni Rometty would be their next president and CEO. She officially took on these roles on January 1, 2012, becoming the ninth chief executive and the first woman to lead the company. She also became the chairman of IBM in October 2012.
As CEO, Ginni Rometty worked to move IBM away from less profitable businesses. She saw big data and analytics as the future for IBM. She made important partnerships, like one with Apple in 2014 to create apps for IBM's business customers. She also partnered with SAP for cloud computing and Twitter for data analysis. Between 2012 and 2015, IBM bought about 30 companies under her leadership, spending $8.5 billion. She also sold off about $7 billion in less profitable parts of the business, like chip manufacturing.
By 2017, IBM was moving strongly into areas like artificial intelligence. In January 2018, IBM reported its first increase in revenue in many years, with growth in areas like data, blockchain, and cloud services. By 2018, she noted that about half of IBM's patents were in new technologies like AI, cloud computing, and quantum computing.
However, during her time as CEO, IBM's overall revenue did decline. On January 30, 2020, it was announced that Ginni Rometty would step down as CEO. She remained executive chairman until December 31, 2020, when she retired from IBM.
Boards and Committees
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Ginni Rometty has been a director at IBM since 2012. She has also been involved in IBM groups that support women in technology and leadership. She serves on the board of overseers for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which is a hospital that treats cancer. Since 2013, she has been a council member for the Latin America Conservation Council, which works to protect nature.
She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, which is a group that discusses international issues. She is on the board of trustees for her old university, Northwestern University, and gave the commencement speech there in 2015. She also co-chaired the WEF Davos meeting in 2017. In May 2020, she was elected to the board of JPMorgan Chase, a large financial company.
Personal Life
Virginia Nicosia married Mark Anthony Rometty in 1979. He is an investor. They do not have children and split their time between New York and Bonita Springs, Florida. Ginni Rometty enjoys going to Broadway shows and scuba diving. In 2014, she became one of the first female members of the Augusta National Golf Club, a famous golf club.
See also
In Spanish: Ginni Rometty para niños
