I tried doing some research on him, but there's almost nothing out there. No wikipedia article, no articles, journals, publications or anything. I know he was IBM's CFO for a while, and that he may have committed securities fraud, but I really thought there would be more info on a Fortune 500 CEO.
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Martin was a bean counter at IBM. He resigned from IBM as was wasn’t offered the CEO position there. He rejoined when he was given the offer to be Kyndryl CEO. After 4 years, I see a sudden focus on cutting costs, RA’s, no standby, no overtime, furlough for contractors: this is Martin turning to his base instincts. I am surprised it took 4 years, but its started: Kyndryl has become another IBM, a company driven by bean counters.
During the IBM/GTS split, Martin resigned and left because he was not being offered CEO position. He came back only because he was eventually given the CEO role at Kyndryl. Guy was a bean counter (CFO) in his previous role, anyones guess what he would do: cut costs. Theres been a sudden focus on cost reductions this week (RA’s, Furloughs). Havent heard of new logo signings in some time. Indicative of sign of things to come.
Who knows. All we get is the pre-recorded quarterly videos and Teams messages warning us about fake Martin messages and phone calls.
"executive positions at IBM including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2014 until 2017" = former book cooker at IBM
I heard that he has a private bathroom in his office that smells like someone has been hitting a strong ca--abis vape pen.
I forgot to mention...he's a finance guy, but obviously not an operations guy. Is he a marketing guy? The bio implies that he is, but I'm not sure he's a salesman in real life. My guess is that he's a temporary placeholder, meant to financially stabilize the company as much as possible after the IBM spinoff. It will be interesting to see who follows him.
He's a finance guy. Here's his bio from Kyndryl's investor relations page:
"Mr. Schroeter was appointed our inaugural Chief Executive Officer in January 2021 and was appointed as Chairman of the Board in connection with the Spin-Off from IBM. Previously, Mr. Schroeter served in a variety of business line and finance executive positions at IBM including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2014 until 2017, leading IBM’s shift in spending profile to align with IBM strategic initiatives, and Senior Vice President of Global Markets from 2018 until 2020, responsible for IBM’s global sales, customer relationships and satisfaction and worldwide geographic operations and overseeing IBM’s marketing and communication functions and building IBM’s brand and reputation globally. Earlier in his career, Mr. Schroeter served as General Manager of IBM global financing, managing a total asset base in excess of $37 billion, and had served numerous roles in Japan, the United States and Australia. Previously, Mr. Schroeter served as a director of the American Australian Association. Mr. Schroeter received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and his undergraduate degree from Temple University. Mr. Schroeter’s global business and leadership experience and financial expertise makes him a well-qualified addition to our Board."
Him being so secretive and private makes me think he might be doing something criminal.
Believe me, that's what all of us are wondering. After split all Kyndryl employees were curious who our new CEO is. You could know all about Ginnie Rometty, she was a public figure but Schroeter... Nothing. It is strange and there were inside jokes among employees it give mafia-like vibes. And it's for sure not that journalists are not curious either. It's that he really cares a lot to keep his privacy a secret. It sadly doesn't help the image of the company and since CEO is the face of the company (and that's it, board has a voice, CEO not really, he is a representative caring about the image of the company) some voices are raising that maybe it would be better to place in that position someone more representative, someone who can go to media and "sell" the company with his or her personality and charisma. But average employees have no voice in that matter obviously. To tell you a secret even within the company you barely ever hear about him. In case of IBM and Ginnie there were regular companies emails from Ginnie (from her assistants but you know what I mean, her name on it), her public initiatives, her speeches on conferences inside and outside of company. You had that sense that CEO is in touch with her company. In case of Martin... I don't even remember he exists. Ghost CEO. It could be that he doesn't like to be in spot but then again. Being a CEO isn't mandatory and comes with some sacrifices. You must be a bit more public. People are joking he isn't even real but AI generated or something.
Blackrock employee (unofficial, like many other).