Bob Swan
Intel's seven-month CEO search ended with the guy who said he didn't want the job - chief financial officer Bob Swan.
Swan has held the post on an interim basis since June, when Intel forced out the man who hired him, former CEO Brian Krzanich. Privately and publicly, though, Swan had insisted he was a placeholder - that he didn't want the CEO role and wasn't a candidate for the job.
After months of looking inside and outside the company without result, though, Intel settled on the man already doing the job.
"In my role as interim CEO, I've developed an even deeper understanding of Intel's opportunities and challenges, our people and our customers," Swan, 58, said in a written statement Thursday. "When the board approached me to take on the role permanently, I jumped at the chance to lead this special company."
Investors were unimpressed. Intel shares fell 2.7 percent Thrusday morning to $46.25.
Though Intel's headquarters are in Silicon Valley, where Swan works, the company's largest and most advanced operations are in Oregon. Intel is the state's largest corporate employer, with 20,000 employees in Washington County.
Intel plans to announce details of a major expansion to its Hillsboro factories on Monday.
As CEO Swan takes the helm as the company comes off a banner year, driven by surging demand for computer chips to run the surging data center industry - a market it utterly dominates.
In 2019, though, Swan faces considerable charges. Intel told investors last week it expects nearly flat sales this year amid waning data center demand, China's cooling economy and the widening trade war.
Moreover, Intel has struggled at its most basic task - delivering regular upgrades to its microprocessor technology. Its forthcoming 10-nanometer class of computer chip, years behind schedule, is finally due at the end of the year.
Intel's shares are down nearly 10 percent since Krzanich left.
Intel's rival rivals like contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have continued surging ahead with their technology in the meantime. Swan's top priority will be retaking the lead - and he'll do so with very little experience in the chip industry.
Hired by Intel less than three years ago to be CFO, Swan had previously been CFO at eBay and CEO of Webvan, a short-lived online grocery from the dot-com era.
At Intel, Swan got off to a difficult start with employees. In a 2017 meeting at Ronler Acres in Hillsboro, Swan defended the prior year's wrenching layoffs. Then he told his own finance staff he wanted more.
"Honestly, I think we have too many people," he declared.
The comments struck many employees as tone-deaf and clueless. In the months he served as interim CEO, though, employees privately credited Swan with being a forthright and credible leader.
Intel's CEOs
Robert Noyce
, 1968-1975
Gordon Moore
, 1975-1987
Andy Grove
, 1987-1998
Craig Barrett
, 1998-2005
Paul Otellini
, 2005-2013
Brian Krzanich
, 2013-2018
Bob Swan
, 2018-
Krzanich quit in June after Intel uncovered what it called "a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee" in violation of corporate policy. Intel didn't explain Thursday why it took so long to find his successor, but heralded the job Swan has done in the interim.
"We considered many outstanding executives and we concluded the best choice is Bob," Intel chairman Andy Bryant said in a written statement. "Important in the board's decision was the outstanding job Bob did as interim CEO for the past seven months, as reflected in Intel's outstanding results in 2018."
Intel made a series of important strategic decisions while Swan was in the interim chief, dissolving its manufacturing group and committing to multibillion-dollar factory upgrades in Ireland, Israel and Oregon.
As recently as January 10, Swan went on CNBC and said he was not interested in running Intel on a long-term basis.
The company had made it clear it had settled on its direction, though, and any CEO it hired would have to adopt the existing strategy. For that reason alone, choosing Swan may have been the most logical course.
Indeed, in a memo to employees posted on Intel's website, Swan declared "our core strategy is not changing." He told employees the company must improve its execution of that strategy and be "bold and fearless" as the company develops new markets for its chips.
"Intel has an amazing legacy, but our aspirations have grown," Swan said.
"We need to continue to evolve to continue making Intel's future even brighter than our storied past."
-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699