Intel appoints a new CEO to face the crisis

The U.S. semiconductor maker Intel Corporation has appointed Lip-Bu Tan as the company's new CEO effective March 18, the multinational announced.

Lip-Bu Tan will also rejoin Intel's board of directors, from which he resigned in August 2024. The new CEO will replace interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who took over interim corporate leadership following the departure in December last year of Pat Gelsinger.

Zinsner will remain executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Johnston Holthaus will continue as chief executive officer of Intel Products.

Tan, president of Walden International

Tan, 65, was CEO of Cadence Design Systems from 2009 to 2021 and served on that company's board of directors for 19 years. In addition, he is a founding managing partner of Walden Catalyst Ventures and chairman of Walden International.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. In 2022, he received the Robert N. Noyce Award, the Semiconductor Industry Association's highest honor.

Intel, with delays in AI

Intel is facing difficulties because of its lagging form in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) although it has a powerful and differentiated computing platform.

Last year, the Santa Clara, Silicon Valley-based company launched a special plan to lay off 15% of its staff and lost - to competitor Nvidia - its place in the celebrated Dow Jones stock index.

The company had a stock market crash and its capitalization was slashed by more than half (-57%) in 2024.