Tan, 65, will take over the daunting job on Tuesday, more than three months after Intel’s previous head, Pat Gelsinger, abruptly retired amid a deepening downturn that triggered massive layoffs and raised questions about the chipmaker’s ability to survive as an independent company.
This won’t be Tan’s first time running a semiconductor company, nor his first association with Intel.
He spent more than a decade as CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which makes software that helps designs processors, and joined Intel’s board of directors in 2022 before stepping down in August. Tan will rejoin Intel’s board.
“Lip Bu is an exceptional leader whose technology industry expertise, deep relationships across the product and foundry ecosystems and proven track record of creating shareholder value is exactly what Intel needs in its next CEO,” interim executive chairman Frank Yeary said.
Intel has been led by interim co-CEOs, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, since Gelsinger walked away from a job that he undertook in February 2021.
Although Gelsinger arrived at Intel amid high hopes, his tenure was a major letdown as Intel’s stock price plunged 60 percent, wiping out US$160 billion in shareholder wealth.
Leading up to his departure last year, Intel laid of 17,500 of its employees — about 15 percent of its workforce — and suspended its dividend to save money on its way to an annual loss of US$19 billion.
Nvida now boasts a market value of US$2.8 trillion compared to Intel’s US$90 billion.
Intel’s stock price rose more than 10 percent in Wednesday’s extended trading after Tan’s hiring was announced, indicating investors believe he will revive the company’s fortunes.
While Tan was Cadence Design’s CEO from January 2009 to May 2021, the company’s stock price increased by 44-fold.
