A pedestrian walks past the Intel Corp. signage at the entrance to the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | fake pictures
Intel said Monday that Venkata “Murthy” Renduchintala, director of engineering for the chipmaker and chairman of the technology, systems architecture and customer group group, will resign on August 3.
The announcement shows that Intel is reconsidering various aspects of its operations while dealing with ongoing manufacturing difficulties, including the launch of next-generation processors. In its second-quarter earnings report on Thursday, Intel said it was delayed in launching chips using a 7-nanometer architecture, while competitor AMD already offers chips with such small transistors. CEO Bob Swan said Intel is evaluating whether it would make sense to start using other companies’ chip foundries, rather than relying solely on itself.
The next day, Intel shares fell 16%, the biggest one-day drop since March 16. AMD shares rose nearly 17%. Intel decided to make the change that day, the company said in a document.
Renduchintala was reportedly seen as a possible replacement for Brian Krzanich, who resigned from his position as CEO in 2018 in connection with a consensual relationship with an employee.
He joined Intel in 2015 from Qualcomm, where he had spent almost 12 years and was recently Executive Vice President, according to his LinkedIn profile. Intel initially put it in charge of its customers and Internet of Things businesses and its systems architecture group. In 2016, he sent out a memo to other top leaders setting out a plan to address what he called “competitiveness gaps.”
In his most recent role, Renduchintala had leadership in technology, engineering, and manufacturing.
“Your group brings together all of Intel’s core technology, engineering and manufacturing functions,” Intel said of Renduchintala on its website. “These functions include semiconductor process technology, manufacturing and operations, system and product architecture, IP development, design and engineering on systems on chip (SoC), software and security, and Intel Labs …”
He was one of Intel’s highest-paid executives, with $ 26,885,400 in total compensation for the year ended December 28, 2019, according to a document.
The Renduchintala group is dividing into five, including the technology development group led by Ann Kelleher, who will work to get 7 nanometer chips out. She joined Intel in 1996. Intel has been working to increase the diversity of its leaders.
Intel had determined Friday as the company saw Renduchintala’s role be removed, the company said in a statement.
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