Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt pays homage to ex-IBM CEO Louis Gerstner: ‘He had great business skills of course but his real insight was …’

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently shared an X post paying homage to ex-IBM Chairman and CEO Louis Gerstner, who died on December 27, 2025, at age 83. Praising Gerstner, Eric said that he “was one of the great American businessman”. Schmidt also lauded his 1993-2002 IBM turnaround from near-collapse, calling it a “historic feat”.


“Lou Gerstner was one of the great American businessman, and someone I learned a lot from. He died two days ago, and after turning around IBM (a historic feat) became the Chair of the Broad Institute (I followed him in that role),” Schmidt wrote on X.


“He had great business skills of course but his real insight was in people - he had an uncanny ability to find the great leaders within every company he worked with. He was devoted to his family, his friends, his companies and science and education,” he further added.


“He will be missed,” the ex-Google CEO said.


Grestner joined IBM in 1993 after serving as CEO of RJR Nabisco. He also worked at American Express and McKinsey before joining the company.


Grestner was reportedly the first outsider to run Big Blue, as IBM was called then. He spent nine years with the tech firm where he is credited with steering IBM away from financial trouble and shifting its focus toward business services. He made changes to the company’s strategy and workplace culture, cut costs, sold assets, and approved share buybacks.


He retired as IBM CEO in 2022.


According to a report by news agency Reuters, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna sent an email to employees recently informing about Grestner’s death. "Lou arrived at IBM at a moment when the company's future was genuinely uncertain. His leadership during that period reshaped the company. Not by looking backward, but by focusing relentlessly on what our clients would need next", Krishna said in the email. He did not give a cause of death.