Andy Grove, One Of Intel’s Legends, Dies At 79

4 weeks ago by Khalid Moammer

Intel is undoubtedly one the most iconic PC component makers in Silicon Valley. Today we take a brief look back at its past and one of its most legendary leaders, Andrew Grove, who passed away todayat the age of 79.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich :
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove,” “Andy made the impossible happen, time and again, and inspired generations of technologists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.”

Left to right : Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce & Andrew Grove.

How It All Began

Why don’t we start from the very beginning, before there was even an Intel. It all started with a company that was spearheading semiconductor innovation in the late fifties and in the sixties, arguably the one that started the entire Silicon valley computing revolution, Fairchild Semiconductor. It was inside Fairchild and through the genius of Robert Noyce that the world’s first commercial integrated circuit came to be. And it was under the very same roof that the observation we’ve come to know as Moore’s Law was conceived by Gordon Moore.

Fairchild was actually a huge company back then and Fairchild Semiconductor was merely a subsidiary of a much bigger entity, Fairchild Camera And Instrument. In the late sixties the atmosphere inside Fairchild Semiconductor changed, it was losing its status as the leader and driver of innovation in the industry. Unfortunate mismanagement meant that the innovators inside the company were not reorganized or adequately compensated for their efforts. The revenue that was generated as a result of their hard work went to Fairchild Camera And Instrument and little of it came back to Fairchild Semiconductor where the real innovation was taking place.

Robert Noyce grew weary of this fact and convinced Gordon Moore to leave, together they founded Intel in 1968. Incidentally A year later, Jerry Sanders who was the Worldwide Sales Manager at Fairchild Semiconductor, also left in to found his own company, Advanced Micro Devices.

The Motto Of Andrew Grove Was “Only the paranoid survive”

Robert Noyce recruited Grove on the very same day of Intel’s incorporation, making him Intel’s first non-founding employee. Andrew Grove was born to a Jewish middle-class Hungarian family who had survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary during WW2. At the age of twenty he fled from the then communist controlled Hungary and finally made his way to the US where he continued his education to become a chemical engineer.

Advertisements

Steve Jobs idolized Andrew Grove and sought his advice as often as he could.

Grove spoke of his early life in Hungary in his memoirs and said :

Grove Is Intel’s Most Successful And Second Longest Running CEO

Grove was Intel’s President from 1979 to 1987 when he succeeded Gordon Moore as the company’s CEO. Being a chemical engineer Grove focused heavily on the manufacturing side of the business. He spearheaded the development and expansion of Intel’s fabrication plants propelling the company’s manufacturing capability and capacity from a handful of small facilities to become the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer.

He worked in an office that was an eight feet by nine feet cubicle where he used to work alongside ordinary Intel employees. He refused to assign any privileges  to himself not even a parking spot. In 1998 he stepped down as CEO after being diagnosed with Prostate cancer. In his 12 year tenure as CEO, Intel’s market capitalization skyrocketed from $4 billion to $197 billion, making it the world’s 7th largest company.

Truly then, Grove made Intel the giant that it is today. He left a permanent mark on the industry and indeed the world.

Get Latest Tech News Daily

We cater to your constant need to remain up to date on today’s technology. Like us, tweet to usor +1 us, to keep up with our round the clock updates, reviews, guides and more.

Share Share Share

game au tax-input-post_tag