
Intel has named a new chief executive officer. The chipmaker has dubbed former chief operating officer Brian Krzanich as its new leader, replacing Paul Otellini who announced that he would retire from the company last November.
Krzanich has been at Intel for more than 30 years, starting in 1982. He was promoted to COO in January 2012 and has been operating as executive vice president since Nov. 2012. He started at Intel as an engineer and worked his way up through the ranks before becoming head of Intel’s worldwide manufacturing in 2010. In that position Krzanich was responsible for all of Intel’s factories and chip manufacturing worldwide.
The move to promote Krzanich mirrors that of Otellini himself. Otellini had worked at Intel for 32 years before becoming CEO in 2005, replacing Craig Barret. At the time was seen as an odd choice for Intel as the company had historically promoted senior executives who had been trained as engineers. Otellini was trained as a businessman with a degree in economics and a Master’s in Business Administration. Krzanich comes from an engineering background and has served as an Intel plant manager before his ascension to the executive ranks.