American chip giant Intel recently launched a talent search plan for its new CEO! According to Reuters, the preferred list includes former director Lip-Bu Tan and Marvell CEO Matt Murphy.
Intel announced on Monday that CEO Pat Gelsinger would step down (officially called retirement) due to slower-than-expected transformation progress, and that Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and senior executive Michelle Johnston Holthaus would serve as interim co-CEOs.
This external search for a CEO is actually Intel's second in many years. Since Intel was founded in 1968, almost all CEOs have been internally trained. The only exception is Bob Swan, who took office in 2019. He was appointed as a stopgap measure when the board of directors was forced to fire Brian Krzanich. as CEO.
"Bloomberg" reported that the reason why Intel's board of directors was unable to find internal successors was partly due to the loss of talent during Krzanich's tenure, which led to the reduction of strong internal candidates. On the other hand, analysts are not optimistic about whether the company can bring in a "savior" from outside to bring about rapid reforms.
As of December 4, Intel's stock price fell more than 10% in 5 days to $22.47; it has fallen 52.99% so far this year.
New CEO candidate 1: Lip-Bu Tan
"Reuters" revealed that Intel's board of directors has recently contacted Lip-Bu Tan to evaluate his willingness to succeed Gelsinger as CEO.
Lip-Bu Tan, 64, is a well-respected veteran in the semiconductor industry. In the past, he served as CEO of Cadence Design Systems, a major EDA manufacturer, and ran venture capital firm Walden Catalyst. He joined Intel's board of directors in September 2022 and was even authorized by the board to oversee manufacturing operations in October 2023. However, due to differences of opinion with Gelsinger on strategic issues, he left in August 2024 and served for less than 2 years.
At that time, "Reuters" reported that Lip-Bu Tan resigned from Intel's board of directors due to dissatisfaction with four major reasons, including Intel's manpower shortage, OEM manufacturing strategy, risk-averse culture, and backward AI strategy.
Lip-Bu Tan is rumored to be one of the candidates for Intel's new CEO. Image Source: celesta official website
New CEO candidate 2: Murphy
In addition, Intel also extended an invitation to Marvel CEO Murphy. He took over Marvell in 2016 and successfully transformed the company into a leader in data infrastructure solutions, increasing the company's market value by more than 10 times. But he said in Tuesday's earnings call that he is "currently focused on the development of Marvell." He may have no intention of taking over the hot potato Intel.
Before joining Marvel, Murphy worked at Maxim Integrated for 22 years and accumulated rich experience in the semiconductor industry; based on his rich experience, Murphy was appointed to the board of directors of the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) in December 2022 Chairman, to promote the development of the global semiconductor ecosystem.
Matt Murphy has also been named as a suitable candidate to take over as Intel CEO. Image Source: MARVELL official website
TSMC's resignation is also an option! Mark Liu and Wang Jianguang are rumored as potential candidates
According to "DIGITIMES", the industry believes that in addition to Mark Liu, the former chairman of TSMC who is widely rumored to have been consulted by Intel, there is also Wang Jianguang, a veteran general who joined TSMC in 1987. During his tenure, he has operated related module engineering, process integration, technology development, new technology transfer, manufacturing, and fab management.
There are also rumors in the industry that Liang Mong Song is considered by some industry players to be the savior who can save Intel's manufacturing business, but under the protection of SMIC, it should be difficult to leave China.
"Bloomberg" also mentioned several possible candidates, including former Intel CFO Stacy Smith, who joined Intel's board of directors this year. In addition to being in charge of finance, he also worked in the sales department and resigned during Krzanich's tenure in 2018. He was one of the applicants for the CEO position.
There's also Ampere Computing CEO Renee James, who founded a startup trying to compete with Intel in server chips. She served as president of Intel but was marginalized under Krzanich.
Another potential candidate is Johny Srouji, Apple's vice president of hardware technology. He is responsible for the development of custom chips such as batteries, application processors, storage controllers, sensors, and displays for Apple's full range of products. He joined Apple in 2008 and led the development of the A4 chip, Apple's first self-designed system on a chip (SoC). Prior to this, Srouji worked in processor development and design roles at Intel and IBM.
Intel faces many challenges, who can revive Big Blue?
Intel is currently at its lowest ebb in the company's 50-year history. When Gelsinger took over in 2021, he was tasked with revitalizing the company, but his bold plans failed to take effect quickly, including improving AI and manufacturing capabilities and attracting high-end customers, which ultimately led to the loss of customers and the cancellation of contracts.
In 2023, Intel's annual revenue will plummet to US$ 54 billion, nearly a third less than when he took office, and it is expected to experience an annual loss of US$ 3.68 billion this year, the first time since 1986.
Intel's stock price subsequently collapsed, falling by more than 60% during Gelsinger's tenure. Recently, market volatility has been triggered by outside speculation about the possibility of mergers and acquisitions. The board of directors has established a task force and is expected to finalize a new CEO within a few months in an effort to reverse the situation.
