SAN FRANCISCO, March 3 (Reuters) - Intel said on Tuesday that longstanding board Chair Frank Yeary plans to retire, the latest shakeup for the once dominant U.S. chipmaker as CEO Lip-Bu Tan seeks to refashion the company.
Current Intel board member and veteran chip executive Craig Barratt will succeed Yeary as chair after the company's annual shareholder meeting in May.
A year after Tan came on board as CEO, Yeary's departure is a significant shift for the board of the Santa Clara, California-based company. Last year, three board members announced their retirement several weeks after Tan took the helm. Since becoming CEO, Tan has implemented a plan to turn around the company that re-embraces manufacturing and reduces corporate complexity through middle-management job cuts.
Intel was the dominant U.S. chipmaker for decades but stumbled after around 2010 when it failed to make a popular mobile phone chip and did not keep pace with rival manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
In a statement, Yeary praised the company's progress on reviving its manufacturing technology and noted that he and the board selected Tan last year.
Yeary served on the board since 2009 and was chair since 2023. He has presided over four CEO transitions and has dealt with the decline of Intel's manufacturing and the rise of TSMC.
"I think his departure was long overdue," Seaport Securities analyst Jay Goldberg said. "Intel has made a lot of bad decisions" while Yeary has been on the board, he said.
Replacing Yeary, an investor and corporate adviser, with a seasoned semiconductor executive was a welcome move, three former Intel executives told Reuters.
Intel said its board - which over the years has included executives from fields such as medical devices and aerospace, in addition to financiers - had sought to remake itself.
"The board has been intentional in its refreshment efforts, adding directors with skills and backgrounds to map to the future opportunities and challenges the company faces, as well as the experience and perspectives to support Intel’s evolving strategy and long-term stockholder interests," the company said in its press release announcing Yeary's departure.
Prior to Tan's installment as CEO, he served on the Intel board with Yeary until Tan left due to differences over the company's turnaround plans.
The incoming chair, Barratt, joined the Intel board in 2025 and has experience working at Qualcomm and briefly at Intel. Barratt is not related to previous Intel CEO Craig Barrett.
"Lip-Bu’s biggest challenge is changing Intel’s culture and professionalizing the board will help that a lot," Goldberg, the analyst, said, referring to Barratt's appointment as chair.
Since his appointment as CEO, Tan has made big changes to Intel. Last year, Intel cut roughly 20% of its workforce as Tan reshaped the company's strategy to tackle artificial intelligence. Tan has also vowed to continue to operate Intel's factories and pursue new customers for its next-generation manufacturing tech called 14A.
Over the summer, Tan drew the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump, who called for his resignation over conflicts of interest. Tan has since charmed the American president, whose administration negotiated for a 10% stake in the company instead of providing money awarded under the CHIPS Act.
(Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis)
