I have been part of two significant technology companies that were leaders in their fields at one time, the time: Digital Equipment Corp and Intel. I was a Digital from 1979-1983 and Intel from 1984-1999.
Both companies, founded by outstanding entrepreneurs, left an indelible mark on the computer industry. Their strong cultures, while a source of strength, also became a barrier to adapting to the changing technology and markets. Digital, in its 41-year existence from 1957 to 1998, and Intel, still standing after 56 years since 1968, failed to adapt to a changing environment.
Each company was led by a charismatic CEO who refused to accept the future. I left both companies at their peak because of that and my inability to impact those companies’ strategies.
Both companies replaced the founder CEO with incompetent leaders. In the case of Digital, Robert Palmer took over from Ken Olsen in 1992. Seven years later, the company was sold to Compaq Computer. Andy Grove, the CEO who failed to understand the impact of the Internet and continued to double down on the Personal Computer business, brought in his replacement, Craig Barrett, who had even less understanding of the future than Andy. This led to a series of ever-worse CEOs until we ended up with Pat Gellinger. Pat who saw himself as the savior of Intel, will not save it. He is likely to be the last CEO of Intel. I suspect the company will end up being broken into pieces and sold off. By the time Pat became CEO in 2021, it was too late. The decisions that Pat made since taking the helm only made things worse.
As I have often written, the job of the Board of Directors is to make sure a company has the right leader. The boards of Digital and Intel failed spectacularly in this duty.
I feel bad for all those who worked at Intel and those who still work there. Like those who worked at Digitial, they love their company. Sadly, those at Intel are going through a very difficult time, which will not have a happy ending.
I have written much about these two companies in my book, The Flight of a Wild Duck.
Two Thirds Done 
As intel dies rapidly it receives enormous government handouts to supposedly revitalize the chip industry. One of Biden’s numerous failures to understand anything at all about business. (True is of course much worse since he has always been a mobster not a businessman). Our Government tends to prolong creative destruction, r >
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I currently work at intel (made it through the ISP [involuntary separation plan]). I’ve worked here for just over 2 years, and from my low level, it appears that senior leadership is just rolling dice or something. They clearly have no plan. When I first came on things were great, we were hiring a lot of people and the future was bright. A few short months later, we had to cut costs and entered into a period of austerity. A few months after that we got our 401k back and other things they had taken from us, AND gave us big raises, mine was 15%. Then a few months later we have to let go of 15k people. Seems leadership is clueless, incompetent or are purposefully tanking the company.
So many of the issues here are so simple to solve, but it seems that no one wants to solve anything. We want to change the way we do things without changing anything.
I’m curious how intel could break up into smaller pieces for a sell off. The Ronler campus is huge with something like 3 million square feet of fab space. How could this be broken up?
Warm Regards,
Eddie
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