IBM's CEO to Take Over as Board Chairman

International Business Machines Corp Chief Executive Virginia Rometty will take over from Sam Palmisano as chairman of the board in October, adding the title after less than a year as CEO.

The 55-year-old Rometty becomes president, chief executive and chairman of the board of a venerable company still lauded on Wall Street for consistently delivering on promises to investors.

Palmisano, who since 2002 has helmed Big Blue and speeded its transformation from a low-margin maker of personal computers and printers into a services and software company, becomes Senior Advisor until he retires at the end of 2012.