Lip-Bu Tan Takes Over as Intel CEO

We usually do not cover executive moves at STH, but this is a big one for the industry. Lip-Bu Tan is taking over as CEO at Intel starting March 18, 2025, just in time for NVIDIA GTC 2025 next week. To say that this is a big move would be an understatement.

Lip-Bu Tan Takes Over as Intel CEO

Intel’s Board of Directors has been in a pickle. After what points to a big disagreement with Pat Gelsinger in December 2024, the company has been guided by David Zinsner (the company’s CFO) and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus, who formerly led the Intel consumer products but who has taken over as the Intel Products CEO. Also quite conspicuous is that Jostin Hotard, who took over the data center business after Sandra Rivera was tapped to lead the Altera spin, left to take the Nokia CEO position. All of this churn matters because Lip-Bu Tan was on the board of Intel until resigning in August 2024, which makes this even more interesting.

For those who do not know, Lip-Bu Tan is Silicon Valley royalty, both as an investor as well as the longtime CEO of Cadence Design Systems.

The importance of this move is that, frankly, Intel needs some help to right the ship. The August 2024 resignation was reportedly due to differences in how Intel should be run with Pat Gelsinger including things like the size of the workforce, missing AI, and so forth. If you wanted to shake things up at Intel, this is one way to do it.

Final Words

Something to never underestimate is the power of relationships in Silicon Valley. Lip-Bu Tan is one of those folks that is incredibly well connected in the fabric of the technology industry. He is one of the few folks that could credibly attempt to take on the task. For folks nervous about the Intel Board’s consistent misses on data center acquisitions and who had been apprehensive about a CEO coming in without as much experience, this is going to calm fears a bit. Intel needed someone who had a lot of credibility in the industry and they found the answer. While there is a lot of work ahead, it also seems to indicate that the path forward is not small changes at Intel.