Not many tech companies can boast that they’ve been around for a century, but then again, not many companies are IBM (IBM).

(Its tagline on TikTok, humorously, is “Yes, we’re still in business.”)

The mainframe computing giant has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past decade, emerging as a leading force in hybrid cloud and AI technology, particularly following its 2019 acquisition of Red Hat, which added open-source software to its portfolio and helped shares climb 78%.

In fact, its software and AI businesses enabled IBM to finish 2025 as one of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s top performers, with shares gaining 40% that year alone.

The big blue chip is known for its stable, consistent cash flow (reporting a record $14.7 billion in 2025) and for raising its dividend for 30 years in a row, placing it in an elite group known as the dividend aristocrats.

But IBM’s performance is not only shaped by corporate strategy; it’s also influenced by the institutional funds and individual shareholders who own it.

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Who owns IBM?

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was founded in 1911 by financier Charles Ranlett Flint. The company was originally called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (it changed its name in 1924).

Flint hired Thomas J. Watson to be the company’s first CEO. In the words of IBM, Watson “believed deeply that the combination of information and technology could create a powerful industry unto itself.”  He doubled the company’s revenue and took IBM public on November 11, 1915.

In the decades that followed, IBM felt more like a “family-run” business than a publicly traded company due to the influence of Watson, and later, his son, Thomas J. Watson Jr., who was CEO of IBM until 1971.

It was actually a common practice at the time of IBM’s founding for families to retain controlling interests in publicly owned companies. Stock markets had less liquidity, regulatory oversight was virtually nonexistent, and boards structured deals to give founders “super-voting” power.

However, the Watson family never controlled more than 5% of IBM shares. And when Watson Jr. had a heart attack in 1971, he handed the company’s reins to T. Vincent Learson, eventually exiting the company completely when he retired from the board of directors in 1984.

Today, Watson’s descendants do not maintain a significant stake in IBM, although they have made headlines for disputes over their inheritance.

Today, IBM is owned by a broad mix of institutional investors and individual shareholders. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s institutional investors (around 65%)

Institutional investors own the lion’s share of IBM. These firms manage trillions of dollars in assets and hold IBM shares through index funds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to Yahoo! Finance, 4,493 institutions held IBM shares as of December 31, 2025.

Here’s a list of its biggest institutional investors:

IBM’s biggest institutional shareholders (as of 12/31/2025)

Because they own millions of shares, large institutions act as a stabilizing influence on companies like IBM, prioritizing long-term business strategy over short-term decisions aimed at boosting share prices.

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IBM’s individual investors (35%)

The general public owns around 35% of IBM’s outstanding shares. They include retail, or individual, investors who invest their own money to achieve their personal financial goals, such as retirement savings.

While individual shareholders may have a smaller say in IBM’s company decisions, their votes still count.

IBM’s leadership & their stake in the company (0.1%)

IBM’s current CEO is Arvind Krishna. He began his role on April 6, 2020, and was appointed Chairman of the Board in January 2021. Krishna is known as the architect behind IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat.

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According to Yahoo! Finance, Krishna owns 371,894 shares of IBM as of February 20, 2026, which translates to a 0.04% stake.

In total, IBM’s corporate executives hold less than 0.5% of company shares.

Related: Who owns Salesforce in 2026? A look at its largest shareholders & leadership stake