Known as the debut woman chief executive officer, president, and chairperson of IBM – a position which she assumed in January 2012, Ginni Rometty was formerly a system engineer with the company which she joined in 1981. In the long run, she became the head of marketing, global sales, and strategy. While she was managing the affairs of the global services division of IBM in 2002, she contributed immensely to the negotiation of the purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers IT consulting business by IBM. She also spearheaded affairs in integrating both companies. Since she assumed the office of the CEO, she has focused IBM on cloud computing, analytics, as well as cognitive computing systems.
From what is obvious, Ginni is a self-made woman in all ramifications, her professional career took off from General Motors Institute immediately after her graduation from Northwestern University. She got to IBM in 1981 as an ordinary employee and worked her way up from poverty, aided with business instincts and coding chops that accelerated her rise to the very tip of the corporate ladder in the company.
Ginni Rometty Bio
Her given name is Virginia Marie Nicosia, she was born in Chicago, Illinois on the 29th of July 1957. Ginni Rometty’s nationality is obviously American but her ethnicity is not known. Her formative years were spent outside Chicago alongside three other siblings, including Joe Nicosia. She came as the eldest child of her parents whose marriage ended in a divorce when Ginni just turned 15. Her dad deserted the family while her mum had to do multiple jobs to take care of the family’s needs. The teenage Ginni got the responsibility of taking care of the home during the evenings.
On her academics, she is an alumnus of Northwestern University Illinois. Ginni was able to pay her tuition through a scholarship award from General Motors where she did her internship between her junior and senior years. She joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in college and eventually, she became the president.
Ginni Rometty concluded her studies in 1979 at Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, as well as Electrical Engineering. She is a recipient of a couple of honorary degrees from both her alma mater in 2015 and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2014.
Net Worth and Salary
The CEO of IBM has been earning handsomely since the debut of her professional career, even though her annual income is not known, she has amassed $45 million as her current net worth. As of 2016, her salary was reading $32.7 million and the remuneration keeps going up.
Fast Facts To Know About Ginni
1. Relationship History
From every indication, Ginni Rometty has only a single marriage experience. The only man in her life is Mark Anthony Rometty. A private-equity investor, Mark is with Bam Oil Company as a major investor. Although the exact day of their wedding is not known, the year was 1979 and their union has endured for almost four decades and still counting. The couple does not have kids and they keep homes in both Bonita Springs, Florida, and New York.
Very little is known about their married life since Ginni Rometty seems to be a private person. She hardly mentions her spouse in public nor does she make public appearances with him. However, she has attested to the fact that her husband helped her a lot during her early career.
2. Success Story at IBM
Since her appointment as the CEO of IBM in 2012, Ginni Rometty has recorded tremendous success; she is responsible for reinventing IBM to lead in the new era of AI, the blockchain, quantum technologies, as well as cybersecurity. For instance, IBM became the first company to publish long-held principles of trust for AI, data transparency, and also data responsibility.
Under Ginni’s watch, the company’s commitment to inclusion and diversity has improved to a great extent. Part of her success is the extension of parental leave which made it easier for the female staff to come back to work through a “returnships” program with hands-on work experience in budding technologies. The Catalyst Award for advancing diversity and women’s initiatives recognized this pioneering work in 2018 and IBM has pride of place as the sole tech company to earn such credit in the last two decades and they have received the honors four times.
3. Hobbies
Away from her career, Ginni enjoys a few hobbies which include scuba diving; she is into Broadway shows and also plays golf. The Augusta National Golf Club received her as their third female member in 2014.
4. Awards and Accolades
The chief executive officer of IBM has received more than a few awards and accolades which include 50 Most Influential People in the World by Bloomberg. Ginni Rometty was listed as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune and Time named her among its list of 20 Most Important People in Tech. Furthermore, she was named in Forbes’ America’s Top 50 Women in Tech.
5. Her Philanthropic Endeavors
Despite her busy schedule, Ginni Rometty still takes out time to engage in philanthropic activities, she works with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a board member.
