IBM Board Sets Pay Packages For New CEO And President

Arvind Krishna, who took the CEO job last month, will start with a $1.5 million base salary, and new president James Whitehurst with $1.2 million

IBM’s board of directors has approved salaries and performance incentives for new CEO Arvind Krishna and its new president, James Whitehurst, the company disclosed in an SEC filing Friday.

Earlier in the week, the board set a $1.5 million base salary for Krishna (pictured above) that he started earning when he took the helm of the company on April 6, with the potential to see an annual bonus of $3 million (prorated from the April start date) that’s dependent on the company’s performance.

But the long-term potential of stock awards far exceeds that cash pay—up to $13.75 million.

[Related: How Much Are Oracle's Top Execs Paid?]

Krishna’s base pay falls $100,000 short of his predecessor, Ginni Rometty, who started 2019 with a salary of $1.6 million. The IBM board in March approved 85 percent of Rometty’s overall target compensation for her final year leading the company, and she ultimately scored $20.16 million in total compensation for 2019.

Whitehurst, who also assumed his position as IBM president on April 6 after more than a decade leading Red Hat, now an IBM subsidiary, will earn a base salary of $1.2 million, with the possibility of another $1.8 million in annual bonus that’s prorated from his start date.