But EPS has not always enjoyed this totemic status. While Samuel Palmisano (IBM President from 2000 to 2011, and CEO from 2002 to 2011) argued that IBM’s main aim was to double earnings per share over the next five years, half a century earlier in 1968 Tom Watson Jr (IBM President from 1952 to 1971) argued that IBM’s three core priorities were (1) respect for individual employees, (2) a commitment to customer service and (3) achieving excellence.
Great quote
