Paul Otellini, Intel CEO, and a man who describes himself as one of the few remaining Republicans in San Francisco (he’s a native) is stepping down from the top spot at the world’s largest chipmaker. The announcement, made by Intel Monday morning, came as a surprise mostly because there is no obvious candidate to replace Otellini, who, at 62, is still three years shy of the mandatory retirement age for an Intel CEO.
Intel is a company driven by process; there is a method for everything from manufacturing chips to picking executives. In the past four CEO successions (Otellini is the company’s fifth boss) it was always obvious who was next in line. But this time around it’s not.
Otellini will step down in May, right around the time of Intel’s annual shareholder meeting, by which time the board will have selected his successor. “After almost four decades with the company and eight years as CEO, it’s time to move on and transfer Intel’s helm to a new generation of leadership,” Otellini said in a statement.
So who could be the next Intel chief? Let’s start with what has happened in the past. In every case the new CEO has come from the existing Intel ranks. That said, the Intel board says it will consider internal and external candidates. Perhaps that’s a pro-forma bone they’re tossing, because it would be a huge shakeup if Intel went outside for its next CEO.
Still, bringing back former Intel exec Pat Gelsinger, who at one time was considered a candidate for the job before he was seemingly passed over and headed to EMC and to subsidiary VMWare as CEO, would likely light a fire under everyone at Intel. Or the board could go totally rogue and find a mobile-savvy leader at a competitor like Qualcomm or even a partner like Apple.
As exciting as that might be to speculate about, it’s not likely to happen. While Intel needs someone with proven mobile chops to lead the company out of its PC past and into a tablet and smartphone future, it will likely come from inside.
In past torch passings, Otellini included, the next CEO came from the person with the COO title next to his name. That person is Brian Krzanich, who heads up Intel’s manufacturing. One good reason that the tradition of the COO becoming the next CEO will continue is that Intel believes very strongly that if it is to compete with all the ARM-based chip designers and manufacturers out there, including Qualcomm, Samsung and others, it is its manufacturing lead that will matter most. In that case, Krzanich is the man to pick.
Other folks in the executive VP ranks in the running include head of software Renee James, corporate strategy lead Stacy Smith, and David (Dadi) Perlmutter who heads up product. They are all considered strong candidates.
For his part, Otellini says he will continue to act as an adviser to Intel management after retiring as CE0. You can also bet he will continue to act as Republican voice in a city dominated by Democrats. Is there a political future for Otellini? Don’t put it past him.
