IBM vs ICICI Bank: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: IBM and ICICI Bank side by side

1. 1911IBM

   Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company Founded

   Charles Ranlett Flint merged the Tabulating Machine Company, International Time Recording Company, Computing Scale Company, and Bundy Manufacturing Company to form CTR - the company that would become IBM.

2. 1924IBM

   Renamed to International Business Machines

   Under Thomas J. Watson Sr. CTR was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), reflecting the company's growing international presence and ambition beyond tabulating machines.

3. 1952IBM

   IBM 701 - First Commercial Computer

   IBM launched the 701, its first commercially available electronic computer, marking the company's decisive entry into the electronic computing era and beginning its dominance of the mainframe market.

4. 1955ICICI Bank

   ICICI Founded as Development-Finance Institution

   ICICI was formed to provide medium- and long-term project finance to Indian businesses.

5. 1964IBM

   System/360 Launch

   IBM launched the System/360, a compatible family of computers spanning all price points. The $5 billion investment was the largest privately funded project at the time and established the mainframe industry standard for decades.

6. 1981IBM

   IBM Personal Computer Launch

   IBM introduced the IBM PC, which standardized personal computing architecture and created the PC industry. The open architecture decision inadvertently created the Wintel duopoly that would ultimately commoditize IBM's own PC business.

7. 1993IBM

   Lou Gerstner Arrives - Turnaround Begins

   Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Became CEO as IBM posted $8 billion in losses. His decision to keep IBM intact rather than break it up, and to pivot toward services, saved the company and redefined its business model for the next two decades.

8. 1994ICICI Bank

   ICICI Bank Incorporated

   ICICI Bank was incorporated as part of the ICICI group during India's post-liberalization banking opening. The move gave ICICI a deposit-taking commercial bank able to serve retail, corporate, and transaction-banking customers.

9. 1997IBM

   Deep Blue Defeats Kasparov

   IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov, becoming the first computer to beat a reigning world champion in a full match and establishing IBM's brand in artificial intelligence.

10. 1999ICICI Bank

    NYSE Listing Milestone

    ICICI became the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The listing expanded global visibility and imposed a higher disclosure profile on the group.

11. 2001ICICI Bank

    Bank of Madura Amalgamation

    Bank of Madura was amalgamated with ICICI Bank with effect from March 10, 2001. The deal added branches, customers, and a southern India presence that helped the young bank build distribution faster than organic expansion alone.

12. 2002ICICI Bank

    Reverse Merger Created Universal Bank

    ICICI, ICICI Personal Financial Services, and ICICI Capital Services merged into ICICI Bank.

13. 2010ICICI Bank

    Bank of Rajasthan Merger

    The Bank of Rajasthan merger strengthened ICICI Bank's branch network, especially in northern and western India. The transaction mattered because local branches and deposits still supported private-bank scale even as digital channels were growing.

14. 2018ICICI Bank

    Sandeep Bakhshi Became MD and CEO

    Sandeep Bakhshi became Managing Director and CEO in October 2018 after Chanda Kochhar requested early retirement. His tenure has been associated with a sharper focus on risk controls, asset quality, governance, and steady retail-led growth.

15. 2019IBM

    Red Hat Acquisition Closes

    IBM completed the $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, the largest software acquisition in history at the time. The deal anchored IBM's hybrid cloud strategy and provided the OpenShift platform as the foundation for enterprise Kubernetes.

16. 2021IBM

    Kyndryl Spinoff

    IBM spun off its managed infrastructure services business as Kyndryl Holdings, removing approximately $19 billion in low-margin revenue to focus the remaining company on higher-margin software and consulting.

17. 2023IBM

    Watsonx Platform Launch

    IBM launched watsonx, its enterprise AI and data platform combining foundation models (Granite), data management (watsonx.data), and AI governance (watsonx.governance). The platform represents IBM's AI strategy for the generative AI era.

18. 2025ICICI Bank

    FY2025 Balance Sheet Scale

    The FY2025 integrated report listed Rs 16,103.48B in deposits, Rs 13,417.66B in loans and advances, Rs 21,182.40B in standalone total assets, and a 16.55% capital adequacy ratio.

19. 2025ICICI Bank

    FY2025 Profitability

    ICICI Bank reported Rs 472.27B in standalone profit after tax and Rs 510.29B in consolidated profit after tax for FY2025. Profitability matters because the bank has to fund technology, compliance, provisions, and growth while keeping capital strong.

20. 2025ICICI Bank

    IMobile and Card Scale

    IMobile processed 558M transactions worth Rs 11,238B in FY2025, and the bank had close to 18M active credit cards at March 31, 2025.

21. 2026IBM

    Confluent Acquisition Closes

    IBM completed its roughly $11 billion acquisition of Confluent, adding real-time data streaming used by more than 6,500 enterprises to its AI and hybrid cloud software.

22. 2026ICICI Bank

    Q1 FY2027 Profit Up 15.9%

    Standalone profit rose 15.9% to Rs 14,805 crore for April-June 2026, with net interest income up 12.7% and net NPAs at 0.35%.

23. 2026ICICI Bank

    Bakhshi Reappointed to 2028

    The RBI approved Sandeep Bakhshi's reappointment as MD and CEO for two years from October 4, 2026.

24. 2026ICICI Bank

    FY2026 Profit Crosses Rs 50,000 Crore

    Standalone net profit rose 6.2% to Rs 50,146.6 crore in FY2026, with a 4.32% net interest margin and 15.8% loan growth.

Acquisitions

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