Intel Corp. said veteran finance executive Bob Swan would be its
next finance chief, ending months of speculation about who would
replace long-time finance chief Stacy Smith.
Mr. Swan was chief financial officer of eBay Inc. for nine
years, engineering the company's spinoff of PayPal Holdings Inc.
last year. After eBay, Mr. Swan went to General Atlantic LLC, a
growth equity firm, as an operating partner in 2015.
"I'm thrilled to join Intel, a company where incredible
innovation is supported by strong financial management," Mr. Swan
said. He joins the company Oct. 10.
Mr. Swan, 56, succeeds Mr. Smith, who was promoted to executive
vice president with responsibility for sales, manufacturing and
operations in April. Mr. Smith, 53, joined Intel in 1988 and had
served as CFO since 2007. In his new role, Mr. Smith has roughly
half of the company's employees reporting to him.
Both Mr. Swan and Mr. Smith will hold the title of executive
vice president, Intel said, reporting directly to Chief Executive
Brian Krzanich.
Mr. Swan comes to Intel at a tumultuous time. The Santa Clara,
Calif., company, whose microprocessors power the vast majority of
computers, has been grappling with pressures that include a
slowdown in the PC industry and a failure to build a major
franchise in chips for smartphones. The chipmaker in April
announced its largest restructuring plan, aiming to slash 12,000
employees, or 11% of its workforce, by mid-2017.
Intel reported second-quarter net income of $1.3 billion, down
more than half from a year earlier and dinged by a $1.41 billion
restructuring charge linked to the layoffs in the quarter.
Mr. Krzanich, who became CEO in 2013, has tried to move the
company's technology into newer markets, such as wearable devices,
drones and smart cars.
He also brought in external management talent to spark fresh
ideas at the 48-year-old company, which historically promoted most
senior executives from within. Mr. Swan is the first CFO recruited
from outside Intel since 1983.
As part of the new strategy, Intel said its future lies with the
growing cloud-computing market, for the first time shedding its
long-held focus on personal computers.
"PCs will still be a very meaningful part of the business…but
they won't represent the growth engine of Intel," said Richard
Lane, analyst at Moody's Investors Service Inc.
Before joining eBay, Mr. Swan was CFO of Electronic Data Systems
Corp., TRW Inc. and The Webvan Group Inc. He spent 15 years at
General Electric Co., serving as finance chief for GE Lighting
Solutions LLC, GE Transportation and the European division of GE
Medical Systems, according to Factiva.
"Bob has a broad range of experience in the tech sector…but it
will certainly be a steep learning curve to understand the
intricacies of chip-making," said Mr. Lane.
Mr. Swan also is likely to attract a new breed of finance talent
to Intel. "Everyone wants to work for Bob Swan," said Peter Crist,
chairman of executive recruitment firm Crist|Kolder Associates. "He
has the breadth of experience and mentors well. There are very few
magnets for talent like Bob Swan."
During his tenure at eBay, Mr. Swan helped nurture nearly a
dozen executives who went on to CFO roles, according to a 2013 Wall
Street Journal article.
Mr. Swan sits on the boards of eBay and Applied Materials Inc.,
as well as App Dynamics and Alignment Healthcare, according to the
General Atlantic website. A General Atlantic spokeswoman declined
to comment on the move.
Mr. Swan's starting salary will be $850,000, and he will be
eligible for an annual bonus with a target payout of $1.1 million,
according to an Intel filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. He will receive a hiring bonus of $5.5 million, be
recommended for a new hire restricted stock unit grant valued at
$9.5 million, and be eligible for annual equity awards in January
2017 with a target fair value of $6.5 million, the filing
states.
Kimberly S. Johnson contributed to this article.
Corrections & Amplifications: Stacy Smith is 53 years old.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that he is
52. (Sept. 19, 2016)
Write to Tatyana Shumsky at tatyana.shumsky@wsj.com and Don
Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 19, 2016 21:45 ET (01:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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