Tan succeeds interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus, who stepped in after Pat Gelsinger’s departure last December.
His return coincides with emerging reports that TSMC is in talks with Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom about a potential joint-venture takeover of Intel’s struggling foundry business.
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Reuters reports that the Taiwanese chip-making giant would run operations for Intel’s foundry business but wouldn’t own more than 50% of it.
TSMC itself has reportedly been pitched a similar proposal by Qualcomm, who had expressed interest in acquiring parts of Intel, only for its interest to cool last November.
The reported takeover talks are in early stages, but President Trump has reportedly a hand in them, with his administration requesting TSMC look into turning around fortunes at the embattled chipmaking firm.
Any takeover would be subject to regulatory approval, with the Trump administration likely to reject any deal where Intel’s foundry division would end up fully foreign-owned.
Intel has struggled to keep pace with rivals in recent years, losing foundry market leadership to TSMC and falling behind Nvidia and AMD, failing to capture the emerging AI market.
The man tasked with turning around Intel’s fortunes is one who left over the company’s direction.
Tan was previously CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which makes software and hardware for designing integrated circuits and printed circuit boards, from 2009 to 2021.
Intel hopes he can turn Intel’s fortunes around just as he did for Cadence, where he led the company’s re-invention, pivoting to focus on customer-centric innovation, which resulted in the company more than doubling its revenue.
He also serves on the boards of Credo Technology Group and Schneider Electric.
Apart from Tan’s appointment, Intel’s senior leadership will see minimal changes: Zinsner will remain as executive vice president and CFO, while Holthaus will return to her previous role as CEO of Intel Products.
Frank D. Yeary, who served as interim executive chair during the CEO search, will revert to his position as independent board chair.
“Tan is an exceptional leader whose technology industry expertise, deep relationships across the product and foundry ecosystems, and proven track record of creating shareholder value is exactly what Intel needs in its next CEO,” Yeary said.
“Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has earned a reputation as an innovator who puts customers at the heart of everything he does, delivers differentiated solutions to win in the market and builds high-performance cultures to achieve success.”
On his appointment, Tan said, “I am honoured to join Intel as CEO. I have tremendous respect and admiration for this iconic company, and I see significant opportunities to remake our business in ways that serve our customers better and create value for our shareholders.
“I am eager to join the company and build upon the work the entire Intel team has been doing to position our business for the future.”
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