The Top 5 IBM Shareholders

Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) can be traced back to the 1880s, when Dr. Alexander Dey invented the first dial recorder. Dey’s business later became one of the core foundations of C-T-R, along with Harlow Bundy’s Bundy Manufacturing Company, which produced the world’s first employee time clock. More recently, IBM has focused on software and cloud computing. Those who have helped the company gain market share in these areas are the largest individual shareholders in the iconic computing company.

Here are the top 5 individual shareholders in IBM. 

Virginia M. Rometty, more commonly known as Ginni, is the Chairman, President and CEO of IBM. She joined IBM in 1981. Since then, Rometty has held numerous leadership positions within the company. Most recently, she was the Senior Vice President and Group Executive of IBM sales, marketing, and strategy. Rometty received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. She is the largest shareholder of IBM with 205,858 beneficially owned and has 95,559 restricted stock units as of December 31, 2017. 

Martin J. Schroeter is the second-largest shareholder of IBM with 55,575 shares as of June 8, 2018. Schroeter is currently the Senior Vice President for IBM Global Markets. Prior to that, he was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of IBM as well as the General manager of IBM Global Financing. Schroeter received his undergraduate degree from Temple University and his MBA from Carnegie Mellon. 

James J. Kavanaugh is the Chief Financial Officer of IBM. He replaced Martin J. Schroeter as CFO in January 2018 and is responsible for IBM's worldwide financial operations. Before Kavanaugh was appointed CFO of IBM, he was the Senior Vice President of Transformation & Operations, a title he held since January 2015. Kavanaugh is the third-largest shareholder with 46,606 shares as of June 8, 2018. 

Kenneth I. Chenault, an independent director of the company, is the fourth-largest individual shareholder in IBM stock with 33,041 shares as of June 29, 2018. Prior, he was named the president of the U.S. division of American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. in 1993, vice chairman of American Express Company in 1995, president and Chief Operating Officer in 1997 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2001, a position he held until his retirement in early 2018. Chenault now serves as Chairman and Managing Director of General Catalyst Partners, a venture capital firm. He is also a director of The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) and Facebook, Inc. (FB). 

Erich Clementi, Senior VP of IBM Global Integrated Accounts, is the fifth-largest IBM individual shareholder with 31,080 shares, as of June 8, 2018. Clementi joined the company in 1984 out of Milan. Since then Clementi has held a number of leadership positions at the company including Director of the Finance Sector in IBM Central Europe, GM of IBM's Business Systems division, and VP of IBM Global Markets.