Jim Whitehurst
James Moon Whitehurst | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 13, 1967 Georgia, United States |
| Occupation | Corporate executive |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Known for | Interim CEO of Unity Technologies; former president of IBM; former CEO of Red Hat; former COO of Delta Air Lines |
James Moon Whitehurst (born October 13, 1967) is an American corporate leader who has been serving as the interim chief executive officer and president of Unity Technologies since October 2023. His previous executive positions include president at IBM, chairperson and CEO at Red Hat, as well as chief operating officer at Delta Air Lines. Prior to joining Delta in 2001, Whitehurst worked as a vice president and director at the Boston Consulting Group, with assignments in the Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Atlanta offices.
Between 2005 and 2007, Whitehurst played a pivotal role at Delta by steering the airline through bankruptcy proceedings and successfully fending off hostile takeover attempts by US Airways in 2006.
In 2013, he was appointed by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory to serve as a member and vice-chair on the North Carolina Economic Development Board. The following year, he was honored with the William C. Friday Award from the NC State Park Scholarships program.
Early life
Born in Georgia, Whitehurst was raised in Columbus. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Rice University in Houston, Texas, graduating in 1989. His academic pursuits also included studies at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in Germany and a year at the London School of Economics. Additionally, he holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Career
Whitehurst spent the years from 1989 to 2001 at Boston Consulting Group before transitioning to Delta Air Lines as senior vice president and subsequently chief network and planning officer. In 2005, then-CEO Gerald Grinstein appointed him COO, entrusting him with guiding Delta through bankruptcy and resisting US Airways' takeover efforts, significantly contributing to the "Keep Delta My Delta" initiative. He departed from Delta amicably in 2007.
In December 2007, Whitehurst assumed the role of CEO at Red Hat. After IBM acquired Red Hat in July 2019, he was promoted to president of IBM starting April 2020. He stepped down from IBM in July 2021.
Whitehurst joined the board of directors for cybersecurity and systems management company Tanium as an independent director in December 2021. In October 2023, he took on the interim CEO position at Unity Technologies. As of 2023, he also acts as an advisor to private equity firm Silver Lake.
Publications
In 2015, Whitehurst authored his debut book titled The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance, which was published by Harvard Business Review.