IBM confirmed Wednesday that it is losing one of its top executives to rival manufacturer Dell, and has already began court proceedings against its former employee.
David L. Johnson, IBM's vice president of corporate development, has left the Armonk, N.Y.-based company for a position at Dell, said Edward Barbini, an IBM spokesman. Johnson oversaw mergers and acquisitions at Big Blue.
A Dell spokesperson confirmed that the company has offered Johnson a position but declined to provide his new title or additional details, noting that Dell respects the intellectual property and trade secrets of other companies.
IBM has already filed a non-compete lawsuit against Johnson, Barbini said.
"As former head of mergers and acquisitions for IBM, Mr. Johnson is in possession of valuable confidential information and cannot undertake a senior strategy position at Dell without violating his obligations to IBM," Barbini said. "Mr. Johnson repeatedly received significant compensation in exchange for agreeing to non-compete provisions, and IBM expects him to fulfill his obligations. IBM intends to ask the court to enforce those obligations to the full extent permitted by law."
Round Rock, Texas-based Dell has been quiet on the acquisition front lately. But the hiring of Johnson away from IBM may indicate a change in corporate strategy, with Dell becoming a more active player.
The largest acquisition made by Dell in recent history was the company's acquisition of storage vendor EqualLogic for $1.4 billion in January of 2008. But with many tech shops down on their luck in the current economic slump, Dell may be looking to shore up its future by bolting on new companies.
For IBM, losing top executives and initiating legal proceedings is becoming somewhat commonplace. In November of 2008, Mark Papermaster left Big Blue to join Apple. IBM filed a lawsuit against its former employee, with the judge siding with IBM at first.
The two companies finally settled the case in January, and Papermaster assumed his role of senior vice president of devices hardware engineering at Apple on April 24.
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