Let us pause to say orisons over the career of Virginia Rometty as CEO of the computing behemoth IBM. On Friday, when the broad market gave up 1.77% largely on coronavirus fears, IBM gained more than 5%, closing at $143.70. For a time, I posted annual comparisons of Rometty’s pay to IBM’s performance under her leadership. As I mentioned in 2016, there has never been any mystery why Rometty’s pay, like that of other CEOs of major corporations, remains buoyant in good times and bad: It’s cultural. If it fails, the IBM board can mark it down as just another failed investment, and count Rometty’s pay as part of the cost.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 31, 2020 19:56 UTC