Jim Whitehurst served as president of IBM until July 2021. Prior to IBM, Whitehurst was president and CEO of Red Hat. At Red Hat, Whitehurst grew the company to be the first multibillion-dollar revenue open-source software company and led the landmark acquisition of Red Hat by IBM for $34 billion in 2019. Under his leadership, Red Hat was named to Forbes’ World’s Most Innovative Companies list, and Barron’s named him one of the World’s Best CEOs.
Mr. Whitehurst is an advocate for open principles as a catalyst for business innovation. He published a book, “The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance,” showing how open principles of management can help organizations navigate and succeed in a fast-paced, connected era.
He currently serves as special advisor at Silver Lake. Prior to Red Hat, Whitehurst served as chief operating officer at Delta Air Lines and as partner at The Boston Consulting Group. He is a member of the board of directors of United Airlines, Tanium and Amplitude. He also sits on the board of trustees of Rice University and the boards of The Conservation Fund and Duke University Health System.
