Intel has a permanent Chief Executive Officer once again. Following a seven-month search for a new top brass following the resignation of former CEO Brian Krzanich, the chipmaker on Thursday announced it had appointed Bob Swan to take the helm and serve on Intel's board.
Swan has been serving as Intel's interim CEO since Krzanich's exit. Before that, he was Intel's Chief Financial Officer since 2016, leading the company's global finance, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, IT and corporate strategy teams.
"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 said in a statement. "When I was first named interim CEO, I was immediately focused on running the company and working with our customers."
This new appointment makes Swan Intel's seventh CEO since the company formed more than 50 years ago.
In a statement, Intel Chairman Andy Bryant said the board conducted a "thorough search" and evaluated a "wide range of internal and external candidates" before coming to this decision.
"As Intel continues to transform its business to capture more of a large and expanding opportunity that includes the data center, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, while continuing to get value from the PC business, the board concluded …that Bob is the right leader to drive Intel into its next era of growth," Bryant said.
Swan said he "jumped at the chance" to lead the company when the board approached him about the opportunity.
"This is an exciting time for Intel: 2018 was an outstanding year and we are in the midst of transforming the company to pursue our biggest market opportunity ever," Swan said. "I'm honored to have the chance to continue working alongside our board, our leadership team, and our more than 107,000 superb employees as we take the company forward."
Before joining Intel, Swan was an operating partner at private equity and venture capital firm General Atlantic LLC and served on manufacturing company Applied Materials' board. Before that, he spent nine years as CFO of eBay.
Todd Underwood, vice president of finance and director of Intel's corporate planning and reporting, will now take up the role of interim Intel CFO. Krzanich, Intel's last CEO, resigned in June after the company learned he had a past consensual relationship with an employee, violating the company's non-fraternization policy.