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Feb 19, 2021 - Economy & Business

IBM considers sale of Watson Health

Dan Primack
Picture of IBM CEO Arvind Krishna

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. Photo: Brian Ach/Getty Images for Wired

IBM (NYSE: IBM) is considering a sale process for its Watson Health business, with both private equity and SPACs viewed as options, per multiple media reports.

Why it matters: This reflects how CEO Arvind Krishna is willing to drop weighty baggage as he aims IBM at the cloud, where rivals like Amazon and Microsoft are miles above.

  • Watson Health generates around $1 billion in annual revenue but isn't profitable.

The bottom line: "Watson was one of IBM’s highest-profile initiatives in recent years and a big bet on the growing healthcare sector, though results disappointed in part because physicians were hesitant to adopt artificial intelligence," The Wall Street Journal writes.

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