Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigns amidst relationship scandal

Posted:
in General Discussion edited June 2018
Chief executive has resigned after five years over "past consensual relationship with an Intel employee," the company said Thursday. Robert Swan has been named interim CEO.

Brian Krzanich, who has resigned from Intel


Intel announced Thursday that Brian Krzanich, its CEO since 2013, has resigned his position. The resignation follows the revelation that Krzanich had a "past consensual relationship" with a company employee, which violated Intel's non-fraternization policy for managers.

Krzanich had worked for Intel for his entire professional life, starting in 1982.

Robert Swan, the company's chief financial officer and the former CFO of eBay, will step in immediately as interim CEO. Intel's board, the company said, has a "robust succession planning process in place," and is searching for a permanent CEO.

Apple and Intel

Krzanich on CNBC in 2015


Apple and Intel have been close partners since Steve Jobs switched the Macintosh CPU to Intel x86 processors starting with the products released in 2006. Intel does not make the processors for the iPhone, but it does supply the modems.

The change in leadership at Intel comes at a time when Apple is reportedly considering dropping Intel chips from Macs starting in 2020, and taking chip production in-house. However, a report in June stated that Apple could use Intel's high-performance discrete graphics chips in future Macs. And a May report stated that Intel's modems for the iPhone could eliminate the need for Qualcomm chips, as soon as this year's models.

In early 2014, Krzanich said in an interview that Intel and Apple's relationship was growing closer.

"We've always had a very close relationship with Apple and it continues to grow closer," Krzanich said in a Reddit "Ask me Anything" session "Sure (it's) grown close over the years, especially since... they started to use our technology in their systems."

A year later, in response to another round of rumors about Apple taking its chip production in-house, Krzanich expressed confidence that Intel could keep innovating in order to keep Apple's business.

"Our job is to continue to deliver parts that have that capability, that are better than our competitors, and then they want to use our parts," he told CNBC.

Falling behind?

Intel chips


In recent years, Intel's ability to keep on track with upgrades to processor architectures has become an issue, especially with regard to hardware heading into Apple's Mac product families.

In 2016, Intel confirmed it was moving on from its Tick-Tock development strategy of producing a new process (tick) followed by an architecture overhaul (tock) to a Tick-Tock-Tock system, adding an optimization period to the end of the chain. The change in cadence meant Intel would continue working on producing chips under the existing process, allowing it more time to perfect the die shrink "tick," such as from a 14-nanometer process to 10 nanometers.

A more recent issue has been the repeated delays in "Cannon Lake," a chip generation that offers the prospect of a MacBook Pro with 32 gigabytes of memory. The Cannon Lake processors include native support for LPDDR4 memory, which would allow Apple to avoid adding a separate RAM controller that could increase the memory capacity to 32 gigabytes, without using the more power-hungry DDR4 memory.

Originally slated for the end of 2017, the delays in the 10-nanometer Cannon Lake chips have pushed the release back a number of times, but did launch its first chip from the generation in May.

Even so, it is unlikely for MacBooks to use Cannon Lake chips for some time, as an Intel quarterly earnings report from April noted it will not move to high volume manufacturing of chips using the architecture until 2019, citing yield issues creating the 10-nanometer chips.

The new guy

Robert Swan, Intel's new interim CEO


Swan had been CFO since 2016, reporting directly to Krzanich.

"Intel's transformation to a data-centric company is well under way and our team is producing great products, excellent growth and outstanding financial results," Swan said in Intel's statement. "I look forward to Intel continuing to win in the marketplace."

In the same announcement, Intel said it expects to earn records revenues of $16.9 billion when it announces second-quarter earnings on July 26.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    hodarhodar Posts: 357member
    This is where the adage of "Don't poo where you sleep" comes from.
    Was that relationship worth a multi-million dollar salary?  If you date someone at work, you are playing a dangerous game.  If things turn sour, and a bulk of relationships do this, then all it takes is an HR complaint, and your career is ended. 

    It is rare in the extreme for a man to file a sexual harassment complaint against a female coworker, especially after a relationship has ended; however the opposite is not true.

    As a professional with over 25 years experience, I would advise you to find your dates OUTSIDE of where you work.  The risk/reward ratio is not in your favor.
    cornchipentropys
  • Reply 2 of 41
    FolioFolio Posts: 698member
    Getting to point where monk robes and nun outfits are needed when we check in each day. Or maybe the exemplar should be robots. /s
    1983claire1
  • Reply 3 of 41
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Can we have some suitable processors now??? Possibly?
    gutengellamboaudi4tmay1983
  • Reply 4 of 41
    nunzynunzy Posts: 662member
    A fish rots from the head down. Apple needs to get rid of Intel once and for all. Intel ruined Mac.
    prismatics
  • Reply 5 of 41
    thttht Posts: 5,421member
    My view from afar, just observing Intel, is that Krzanich has been a net negative to Intel. Seems like it is a happy day for Intel. Now on to find a good replacement.

    There’s a rumor that Apple is investing 29 billion, with a “b”, into TSMC for their 5 nm node. Wow.
    prismatics
  • Reply 6 of 41
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    In recent years, Intel’s ability to keep on track with upgrades to processor architectures has become an issue, especially with regard to hardware heading into Apple’s Mac product families.
    When IBM&Motorola fell behind with the Power PC it turned out Apple had been running Mac OS on Intel in the lab for quite awhile. The switch was painless and elegant with Rosetta. Anyone who thinks Apple is not doing the same thing now in its labs with other options (be it A series chips or something else) is whistling past the graveyard. If a switch becomes necessary and beneficial for Apple they will do it without hesitation. I had the misfortune to buy a liquid cooled Power Mac G5 that turned out be a big headache when the cooling system leaked a couple of years later. It have no doubt it was built because of an edict from Jobs in an attempt to keep up with Intel at the time.
    edited June 2018 tmay1983
  • Reply 7 of 41
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    Idiot decision. Consensual is consensual. 

    The reality, and I prefer reality over myth, is that workplace is one of the most appropriate places in which people find relationships. 

    Do workplace relationships cause workplace biases? Of course. So do workplace golf outings, being around the money people will give you an advantage to getting a larger salary, being around decisions makers will remove you from the bias of being seen as yet another cog in their wheel. 

    Social relationships, “networking”, gives advantages. Merit is rarely a deciding factor. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. 

    Consensual sexual relationships are no different. 
    edited June 2018 dysamoriaanantksundaramclaire1
  • Reply 8 of 41
    Seems like the kind of thing you should get reprimanded for not fired.
    dysamoria1983
  • Reply 9 of 41
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    Folio said:
    Getting to point where monk robes and nun outfits are needed when we check in each day. Or maybe the exemplar should be robots. /s
    While I would normally agree, there’s this:

    The resignation follows the revelation that Krzanich had a "past consensual relationship" with a company employee, which violated Intel's non-fraternization policy for managers.”

    So...might be a good idea to read your contract. A lot of people—guys especially—can’t seem to engage their brains when they’re around someone to whom they are sexually attracted. They will deny it, lay blame at the foot of the other person, or play the victim. This is cowardice. Sadly, they are never courageous enough to take responsibility for making a bad decision. 

    Times are changing guys, and it’s no longer a good old boys club. Better start acting like responsible adult men. 
    hodardysamoriaanantksundaram
  • Reply 10 of 41
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    That’s funny... Bill Gates dated and eventually married one of his subordinates. It helps if you own the company.

    ”It’s good to be the king!”
    edited June 2018 jony0dysamorialarryjwGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 11 of 41
    Anachr0nAnachr0n Posts: 37member
    If a corporation has a non-fraternization policy, then leadership has to follow it. We can debate the merit of that policy all day, but it misses he point.  
    If a mid-level manager violates the policy, they may be fired, or maybe get away with a reprimand of some sort. If the CEO violates the policy, that’s a different story. It strikes to the heart of the company. The culture of a company is based on what leadership allows to transpire. The CEO is a much greater influencer of culture than a manager. 
    StrangeDaysfractaldreams
  • Reply 12 of 41
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Anachr0n said:
    If a corporation has a non-fraternization policy, then leadership has to follow it. We can debate the merit of that policy all day, but it misses he point.  
    If a mid-level manager violates the policy, they may be fired, or maybe get away with a reprimand of some sort. If the CEO violates the policy, that’s a different story. It strikes to the heart of the company. The culture of a company is based on what leadership allows to transpire. The CEO is a much greater influencer of culture than a manager. 
    No matter what steps are taken or rules are placed on people, they will eventually figure out a way to have sex with each other.
    Anachr0ndysamoriamattinozanantksundaram
  • Reply 13 of 41
    Anachr0nAnachr0n Posts: 37member
    Anachr0n said:
    If a corporation has a non-fraternization policy, then leadership has to follow it. We can debate the merit of that policy all day, but it misses he point.  
    If a mid-level manager violates the policy, they may be fired, or maybe get away with a reprimand of some sort. If the CEO violates the policy, that’s a different story. It strikes to the heart of the company. The culture of a company is based on what leadership allows to transpire. The CEO is a much greater influencer of culture than a manager. 
    No matter what steps are taken or rules are placed on people, they will eventually figure out a way to have sex with each other.
    True. But if you play... you pay. 
    StrangeDaysmattinoz
  • Reply 14 of 41
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    larryjw said:
    Idiot decision. Consensual is consensual. 

    The reality, and I prefer reality over myth, is that workplace is one of the most appropriate places in which people find relationships.
    They had a rule. He broke the rule. Whether you agree with it or not, he did something he shouldn't have. and the penalty for breaking the rule was known when they did it. Now there is a reason these rules are in place. When you are dealing with a worker/boss situation "consensual" gets to be a difficult area. The rule is there to protect both parties. It protects the worker from getting pressured into a relationship by someone who holds their career in their hands. It also protects them from retaliation, getting fired if they refuse or break it off. It also protects the boss from being accused of retaliation. It also protects the company from accusations of having an abusive working environment.
    Anachr0njony0dysamoriaRayz2016
  • Reply 15 of 41
    Anachr0nAnachr0n Posts: 37member
    It looks to me like the rule is about staff/management relations. The issue has more to do with the power imbalance and the organizational risk of such. Much like students dating teachers vs dating other students. One is ok. The other is not. 
    StrangeDaysdysamoria
  • Reply 16 of 41
    jony0jony0 Posts: 378member
    A lot of people—guys especially—can’t seem to engage their brains when they’re around someone to whom they are sexually attracted.
    And the explanation for that comes from the late great philosopher Robin Williams :
    'The problem is, God gave man a brain and a penis and only 
    enough blood to run one at a time.'
    GG1DAalsethfastasleepRayz2016
  • Reply 17 of 41
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Anachr0n said:
    Anachr0n said:
    If a corporation has a non-fraternization policy, then leadership has to follow it. We can debate the merit of that policy all day, but it misses he point.  
    If a mid-level manager violates the policy, they may be fired, or maybe get away with a reprimand of some sort. If the CEO violates the policy, that’s a different story. It strikes to the heart of the company. The culture of a company is based on what leadership allows to transpire. The CEO is a much greater influencer of culture than a manager. 
    No matter what steps are taken or rules are placed on people, they will eventually figure out a way to have sex with each other.
    True. But if you play... you pay. 
    No argument, it's just an exercise in futility.
  • Reply 18 of 41
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,007member
    Seems like "Intel Inside" took on a slightly different meaning here...
    jony0GG1darwiniandudeAnachr0nStrangeDaysDAalsethfastasleepRayz2016macxpress
  • Reply 19 of 41
    Also, he is married with two daughters. It’s not a good look for a CEO. 
    If he were unmarried and there was no company policy against this, fine. But that’s not the case. 

    And for those saying he’s dropped the ball, well, maybe he has... but it was on Paul Otellini’s watch that Intel declined to make ARM chips for iPhone, and then actually sold all their ARM IP away. Apple Newton ran on Intel StrongARM RISC. Intel ditching arm just before the iPhone reignited the smartphone industry is in my opinion one of the company’s biggest blunders ever. 
    dysamoriaStrangeDays
  • Reply 20 of 41
    FolioFolio Posts: 698member
    Haha. Speaking of Intel Inside, I believe cofounder Robert Noyce, brilliant and swashbuckling, found his second wife in the company’s personnel department. She later moved to Apple.
    fractaldreamsdysamoria
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