: IBM stock worst performer on Dow as Whitehurst steps down as president

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International Business Machines Inc. shares fell Friday after the company announced that Jim Whitehurst was stepping down as president.

IBM
IBM,
-4.87%

shares were last down 4.5% at $140.28 and were the worst performing stock on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.43%

Friday.

Whitehurst became IBM president in January 2020, the same time Arvind Krishna was appointed chief executive, after the company’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, which closed in July 2019. Whitehurst had served as Red Hat’s CEO at the time of the deal.

In a statement, IBM’s Krishna did not give a reason for Whitehurst stepping down as president but said Whitehurst would continue on as a senior adviser. A successor to Whitehurst was not named.

Over the past 12 months, IBM shares have grown 17% while the Dow has advanced 35% and the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.65%

has risen 39%.