Harriet Green has joined
IBM in the position of Divisional Head. Ms. Green, who comes from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Cook, a leading British travel agency group. She is a well-known figure in the United Kingdom and a recipient of the Order Of the British Empire (or OBE) – an honor bestowed by the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II to UK citizens for their contribution to the arts and sciences, charity, public service, and to business.
Ms. Green was formerly Managing Director at the Macro Group. She later joined Arrow Electronics as President of the Asia/Pacific sector and later became Chief Executive Officer of Premier Farnell. She joined Thomas Cook in July 2012 and is regarded as being the key player in the company’s restructuring and turnaround from near bankruptcy. However, in 2006 two children – Christianne and Robert Shepherd – died on a Thomas Cook holiday on the island of Corfu, an event that would lead to her eventual departure from Thomas Cook.
It was reported at the time of the children’s deaths that she had impeded a subsequent inquest and refused to meet the children’s parents. A 2015 inquest ruled that the children were victims of unlawful killing as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a water boiler at the hotel where they were staying. Ms. Green left the company as a result of a falling out between herself and the Thomas Cook board over the deaths. She was last in the news earlier this year when she received a £5.7 million ($8.79 million) bonus from Thomas Cook despite, having left the company. A third of the bonus was donated to the dead children’s parents.
It is widely believed that she has taken a role at IBM because the attention she received as a result of Christianne and Robert Shepherd’s deaths has made want to live outside the United Kingdom. She arrives at IBM at a time when the corporation’s share value has fallen by 20%.
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