IBM veteran Steven Mills retires

International Business Machines Corp said on Monday Steven Mills, executive vice president, software and systems, decided to retire on Dec. 31, after a career spanning more than four decades.Mills, 64, played a leading role in the growth of IBM Software Group since its inception in 1995 and under his leadership the company acquired over 30 software firms since 2001. He was appointed to his latest position in January last year.Steve Mills joined IBM in 1973 after graduating New York’s Union College and has held a variety of leadership positions throughout his IBM career. Mills had rejected an offer from Hewlett-Packard Co in 2010 to become the software company's chief executive, Reuters had reported, citing two sources.Prior to the role of Executive Vice President, Mills was Senior Vice President and Group Executive, IBM Software Group for 14 years. For the past three years, hardware and systems were added to his responsibilities.Mills had played a leading role in the growth of IBM Software Group since its inception in 1995. In this capacity, he was responsible for directing approximately 110,000 employees spanning development, manufacturing, sales, marketing and support professions.With the addition of Systems, Mills was responsible for IBM's products that contribute $40B of IBM's revenue and provide critical business integration infrastructure that powers more than 100,000 enterprises around the world.With inputs from Reuters