Robert Swan Is Intel's New CEO

(Image credit: Intel)

Intel has named Robert Swan as its permanent CEO after a seven-month search. He will serve as the company's seventh chief executive. Additionally, he has been elected to the board of directors. 

Swan has served as CFO since 2016 and served as interim CEO during the search for a permanent leader. Swan had been adamant that he didn't want the job. He stepped into the interim role after former CEO Brian Krzanich resigned over a relationship with an employee, which violated company policy. 

There was rampant speculation that Intel might name a CEO during its earnings call last week, but that didn't happen. At the time, Swan said on the call that the company was still searching for the right candidate, and that "I am convinced the board will close on a new CEO in the near future. In the meantime, we will not be distracted by the void."

Investors and enthusiasts will have a close eye on Swan, who will need to steer the company through supply issues and problems it has had with its 10 nanometer process, though Intel says the latter is on track for a 2019 retail launch. 

Todd Underwood, Vice president of finance and director of Intel's corporate planning and reporting, will keep Swan's old seat warm as interim CFO while the company begins a search to fill that position.

“The search committee conducted a comprehensive evaluation of a wide range of internal and external candidates to identify the right leader at this critical juncture in Intel’s evolution," said Intel chairman Andy Bryant. "We considered many outstanding executives and we concluded the best choice is Bob. 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. Bob’s performance, his knowledge of the business, his command of our growth strategy, and the respect he has earned from our customers, our owners, and his colleagues confirmed he is the right executive to lead Intel.”

As of this writing, Intel's stock was down 2.5 percent.

A number of other candidates were widely rumored for the job, including internal candidates like Dr. Venkata "Murhty" Renduchintala, group president of the technology, systems architecture and client group as well as chief engineering officer, and external candidates like Apple chip lead Johny Srouji. We held a mock CEO draft, but no one picked right, as we all assumed that Swan was serious about not taking the top spot.

Andrew E. Freedman

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and Mastodon @FreedmanAE.mastodon.social.

  • arifbudiman20021993
    Taaaiik kaliaan. Terseraah mu. Kerja mu bagus. Tapi nggk sprti hati mu. Aku sudah nuerah. Kau mau jadi apa silahka . Caprek kali aku dh
    Reply
  • shmoochie
    "In December 2018, it was reported that he was the only Intel insider buying stock since 2010." https://www.barrons.com/articles/intel-stock-ceo-bob-swan-buys-1544046398

    This makes me think that he is confident in his ability to fix the supply issue in 2019, which is exactly what they have reported.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    Now Intel stock is headed down. I guess we know what the market thinks about swan.
    Reply
  • Lutfij
    arifbudiman20021993,
    The primary mode of communication is through text and the primary language of communication is English. Edit your post or it'll be culled.
    Reply
  • caustin582
    21728601 said:
    Taaaiik kaliaan. Terseraah mu. Kerja mu bagus. Tapi nggk sprti hati mu. Aku sudah nuerah. Kau mau jadi apa silahka . Caprek kali aku dh

    I disagree
    Reply
  • passivecool
    accordint to google translate, indonesian:
    "Taaaiik kaliaan. Your sanctuary. Your work is good. But it's not like your heart. I'm already old. What do you want to be like? Caprek I dh"

    that makes about as much sense as naming a bookkeeper the head of an technology company which is supposed to be innovative. My tip: buy shares, not hardware, sell short.

    Do you hear the people sing?
    Singing a song of angry men?
    It is the music of a people
    Who're buying AMD again!
    Reply
  • s1mon7
    A finance-background leader is not what they need now. This was surely an easy and convenient choice, but one that might move them even further in the wrong direction. Intel's obsession with the charts and tables has led them here. They don't need to master redistributing (or keeping) their money even further - they need to get their moneymaker (chips) in order. I'm not surprised that even the investors took note of this.
    His actions will only bear major fruit in 2-3 years. Combined with Intel's money reserves and mind share still sheltering them for the time being, it might be too late to reverse when these start to diminish. Intel needs a good strategy now, one lead by engineering excellence at the forefront.
    Reply
  • s1mon7
    21728652 said:
    "In December 2018, it was reported that he was the only Intel insider buying stock since 2010." https://www.barrons.com/articles/intel-stock-ceo-bob-swan-buys-1544046398

    This makes me think that he is confident in his ability to fix the supply issue in 2019, which is exactly what they have reported.

    Or he's the least realistic person around.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    The board has to like a guy who keeps skin in the game and votes his confidence with his own money.

    At the the executive level the job is not about whether you are a financier or an engineer (you have people for that) it's about whether you can cast a vision others can get behind and select and empower the right people at the right time. I wish him well.
    Reply
  • justin.m.beauvais
    I don't know if this is the right choice for Intel, I mean he's had the job as a temp for months and things have been shaky at best. Maybe, now that he has the full title and the power associated he can turn things around, but if the title and power weren't what was keeping him from doing a good job he is going to have a less than illustrious career as a CEO if things keep going the way they are going.

    In my humble opinion, he isn't what Intel needs right now, but if he proves me wrong I'll accept that.

    Good luck Mr Swan.
    Reply