Lip Bu Tan Picked To Turn Intel Around: Now What?

In a not so surprising press release, Intel (INTC) announced that the recently departed director Lip Bu Tan has been appointed as Intel CEO effective March 18^th. When Lip Bu Tan quit Intel board in August 2024, Mr. Tan’s disagreements with ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger got considerable press. We already know that Mr. Tan left Intel due to dissatisfaction with Intel’s strategy and how slowly the Company was moving under Gelsinger. After that, Lip Bu Tan’s name was making rounds as CEO ever since Gelsinger quit and even earlier than that. That Mr. Tan is back as a CEO indicates that the board prefers his approach and has tacitly approved his plan to revive Intel. This buy-in is a good thing for Intel as we can expect the new strategy for Intel under the new CEO to fall in place quickly.

Note that giving the CEO job to 65-year-old Tan is strongly indicative that he is in a transitionary role – to cleanup the mess at Intel quickly and to put successors in place. As a Venture Capitalist and once CEO and Chairman of Cadence Design Systems (CDNS), Lip Bu Tan comes to the job with a strong resume. Mr. Tan’s skillset would be particularly applicable to making progress on the Intel Foundry Services front where he seems to have specific ideas.

Reading Lip Bu Tan’s note to Intel employees does not give any meaningful insight into what is to come. As such Beyond The Hype believes that the letter may be a tad misleading. Based on the reading of the tea leaves lying around, here is Beyond The Hype’s expectation of what is likely to transpire at Intel in the near future:

Phase 1: New Strategy

Lip Bu likely already has a preliminary plan on where he wants Intel to go and what changes he would like to see. Over the next few weeks (less than 3 months most likely), Mr. Tan will work with his leadership team to flesh it out thoroughly and pick a senior leadership team to begin the implementation. While it is unlikely that the current Co-CEOs Holthaus and Zinsner’s roles will change meaningfully, there could be changes elsewhere including a layer or two below the executive team.