Intel's Craig Barrett will retire from his position as Chairman and member of the Board of Directors effective May 2009 at the company's AGM (Annual General Meeting). The exact date has not yet been determined.
He will be replaced by Jane Shaw, who was elected yesterday to serve as non-executive Chair of the Board for a one-year term, effective immediately after Barrett steps down. She has served as a Director of the Company since 1993, and is currently Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.
Barrett was promoted to President of Intel in 1997, and also assumed the title of Chief Executive Officer in 1998. He stepped down from both positions to serve as Chair of Intel's Board of Directors in May 2005. When he retires, he will have spent 35 years with Intel.
During his first year as President, he oversaw the introduction of the Pentium processor with MMX, as well as the 7.5 million transistor Pentium II. Intel also launched StrataFlash, its first Multi-Level Cell flash device. In 1999, Intel was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
During his tenure, he also launched the Celeron, Xeon, Pentium III, Pentium 4, Itanium, and Centrino product lines. He is famous for his "Copy Exactly" fab building strategy, which saw a process first being developed at its research and development Fab D1D in Oregon. The optimized production line was then copied to the fabs around the world, lowering downtime and maximizing yields.
Craig Barrett is also well known to the tech crowd, having made many speeches and presentations at various Intel Developer Forums throughout the years. Dr. Barrett
was often the one to show a new die shrink or product launch.
After his retirement, he may assume an advisor position, similar to that of former Chairs Andy Grove and Gordon Moore. He could also choose to spend more time with his family. His wife, Barbara Barrett, has just finished serving as the United States' Ambassador to Finland. He owns a house in Arizona, as well as a ranch in Montana.
Dr. Jane Shaw is relatively unknown to the tech crowd, even though she has served on the Board of Intel since 1993. Dr. Shaw received a BSc and PhD in Physiology from Birmingham University in England. Aged 69, she retired as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Aerogen in June 2005.
Aerogen is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing drug-device combination aerosol products for patients with respiratory disorders.
She was also President and Chief Operating Officer of ALZA Corporation, another pharmaceutical company from 1987 to 1994. Dr. Shaw is also on the Board of the McKesson Corporation, the single largest health care company in the world, specializing in the distribution of health care systems, medical supplies and pharmaceutical products.
It is particularly stunning that Barrett would step down in a recession and turn it over to someone who did not work their way up as an Intel engineer. It may be that Barrett's retirement has taken the Board by surprise and they will be searching for an alternative Chair as well.
Every board has its own schisms, with different people wanting to go in different directions. It will be interesting to see if Intel will be able to stick to its 32nm transition plans.
