IBM vs Uber: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: IBM and Uber 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. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 2009Uber

   UberCab idea takes shape

   Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick developed the Uber idea after discussing the difficulty of getting a reliable ride in Paris and San Francisco.

9. 2010Uber

   San Francisco service launch

   Uber launched service in San Francisco in 2010, proving that riders would pay for visible arrival times, stored payment, and digital receipts.

10. 2012Uber

    UberX expands the addressable market

    UberX brought lower-priced rides from personal vehicles into the product mix. That shift moved the company beyond premium black cars, increased driver supply, and opened the larger regulatory debate over licensing, insurance, and worker classification.

11. 2016Uber

    China exit through Didi deal

    Uber exited China by selling its local operation to Didi Chuxing after an expensive subsidy fight. The retreat showed that local payments, regulation, mapping, and distribution could outweigh global capital and brand recognition.

12. 2017Uber

    Dara Khosrowshahi becomes CEO

    Dara Khosrowshahi replaced Travis Kalanick as CEO after a year of cultural, legal, and regulatory crises. The transition mattered because Uber needed a more credible operating and governance model before entering public markets.

13. 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.

14. 2019Uber

    Uber becomes a public company

    Uber completed its initial public offering in May 2019 and later reported roughly $8.0 billion in net IPO proceeds. The listing forced the company to explain its economics to public investors and shifted attention from geographic expansion to profitability.

15. 2020Uber

    Postmates acquisition strengthens U.S. Delivery

    Uber agreed to acquire Postmates for approximately $2.65 billion in an all-stock transaction. The deal added U.S. Delivery density, local merchant relationships, and delivery-as-a-service capabilities as Eats became more important during the pandemic.

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. 2021Uber

    Uber One launches

    Uber One launched as a paid membership connecting rides, delivery, and groceries. The product mattered because it gave frequent users a reason to keep more transactions inside one account instead of switching between single-category rivals.

18. 2021Uber

    Uber Freight agrees to buy Transplace

    Uber Freight agreed to acquire Transplace for approximately $2.25 billion. The deal moved Freight deeper into managed transportation and shipper software, a different business from consumer rides but tied to the same broader logistics ambition.

19. 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.

20. 2023Uber

    Waymo partnership brings autonomous rides to Uber

    Waymo and Uber announced a multi-year partnership to make the Waymo Driver available through the Uber platform, starting in Phoenix. The deal showed Uber's post-ATG autonomy strategy: partner with vehicle specialists while keeping the marketplace relationship.

21. 2024Uber

    $44.0 billion revenue year

    FY2024 revenue reached $44.0 billion, up from $37.3 billion in FY2023. The result showed that mobility had recovered after the pandemic while delivery remained a larger and more durable part of the business.

22. 2025Uber

    $52.0 billion revenue and $193.5 billion gross bookings

    FY2025 revenue reached $52.0 billion, gross bookings reached $193.5 billion, and annual trips rose to 13.6 billion. The milestone mattered because it showed growth alongside GAAP operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow at significant scale.

23. 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.

24. 2026Uber

    $14.8 billion Delivery Hero offer and 3,300-role restructuring

    Uber offered €41.50 per share for Delivery Hero in July 2026 and launched the tender in September after Delivery Hero's boards backed it. The same month it announced about 3,300 corporate job cuts to remove management layers.

Acquisitions

Questions about IBM vs Uber