(Bloomberg) — Intel Corp. named Lip-Bu Tan as its next chief executive officer, entrusting a former board member and semiconductor veteran with one of the toughest jobs in the chip industry.
Tan, 65, will assume the role on March 18, the company said in a statement Wednesday. He will rejoin the board as well after stepping down in August 2024.
Tan, the former head of Cadence Design Systems Inc., is tasked with restoring the fortunes of a pioneering chipmaker that’s become an industry laggard. Intel, which dominated the semiconductor field for decades, is struggling with market-share losses, manufacturing setbacks and a precipitous decline in its earnings. It’s also burdened with debt and recently had to slash about 15,000 jobs.
Intel shares jumped more than 11% on the news, after rising 4.6% in regular New York trading on Wednesday. The stock is down more than 54% in the past 12 months as the company’s future became increasingly murky, leaving its market cap at $89.5 billion.
His immediate predecessor, Pat Gelsinger, was pushed out by the board for a perceived failure to rejuvenate Intel’s product lineup. One of the most glaring challenges: creating an artificial intelligence accelerator chip that can rival the products of Nvidia Corp. That company, once in Intel’s shadow, has seen its revenue and valuation skyrocket over the past two years due to the AI computing boom.
Gelsinger had also set out to turn Intel into a chip foundry — a contract manufacturer that makes products for outside clients — but that effort is still in its early stages.
Intel remains one of the world’s biggest chipmakers by revenue, with more than $50 billion in annual sales. Its processors are the main component in more than 70% of the world’s personal computers and server machines. And the company’s factories still represent a large chunk of worldwide capacity for advanced manufacturing.
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