Synopsis
Since taking the helm at Intel, CEO Lip-Bu Tan has focused on external partnerships, securing interest from tech giants like Apple and Tesla, and even forging a surprising deal with Elon Musk. This renewed focus on customers and strategic alliances has boosted Intel's stock to a record high, signaling a potential turnaround for the chipmaker.But after forging ties to the world’s biggest tech titans — and winning over US President Donald Trump — Tan is kicking off year two on a decidedly higher note. Apple and Tesla are showing interest in the company’s manufacturing. The processors it makes are back in demand, and budding optimism that Intel will finally start to benefit from the AI boom has sent its stock to a record.
Before Tan can deliver on shareholders’ rising expectations, he has to make changes within the 57-year-old company that was formerly a leader in semiconductor manufacturing. Since becoming CEO, Tan has spent far more time outside the company than inside, and has not widely explained his specific plan to fix products and manufacturing to employees, according to more than a dozen current and former staff, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The fundamental issues remain, they said: Intel needs products that can win back lost share, and manufacturing that’s so good, even rivals will have to give it billions of dollars in orders. Neither of those is a given.
Tan, in his first interview as CEO, said he recognizes the company still has “a long way to go.”
“Intel has the technology, talent and scale to lead again, but leadership is earned through execution,” he said.
Tan acknowledged he has focused on customers, and said that he is now getting closer to the lineup of internal leadership he can trust to deliver. “I want to have a team that I can consider one team” with a “sense of urgency,” he said. He is targeting the end of June to complete his recruitment drive. This week, he made two hires.
While he builds his bench, Tan has been navigating some of Intel’s biggest problems by leaning on his network. In a key White House meeting last August, he turned a public blowup with President Donald Trump into a deal that made the US government Intel’s third-largest shareholder. To arrange the change of heart, the CEO called upon his friends in the industry to vouch for him, including Michael Dell, according to people familiar with the matter.
More recently, Tan struck a partnership with Elon Musk on a scheme to build a massive factory complex and shake up the chip industry. The deal was the result of Tan chatting with Musk personally over time, and took most of the company’s other leaders by surprise, according to people familiar with the matter.
Musk said Friday that he visited an Intel plant in Oregon this week and posted a picture with Tan.
