Present at the company’s founding in 1968, the technology veteran and business maestro was named President in 1979 and CEO in 1987
Intel has released a formal statement announcing the demise of former its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Andrew S. Grove, who passed away on 21 March 2016 at the age of 79. Present at the company’s founding in 1968, the industry veteran was appointed President in 1979 and subsequently CEO in 1987.
A decade later, he was named Chairman of the Board and served in said capacity for eight years. During his tenure with the group and in retirement, he rose as one of the most iconic figures in technology and business, an elevation which saw him author best-selling books and widely cited articles.
“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,” said Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel.
Born András Gróf, he was a Hungarian native of Budapest origin. In the late 1950s, he immigrated to the United States after having survived Nazi occupation and escaped Soviet repression. A chemical engineering scholar, he completed his Ph.D in the field at the University of Berkeley in 1963.
Upon graduation, he was hired by Gordon Moore at Fairchild Semiconductor as a researcher and was promoted to Assistant Head of R&D. When Robert Noyce and Moore left the organisation to establish Intel, Grove was their first hire and played a critical role in the decision to transition from memory chips to microprocessors.
He headed the marque’s transformation into a formidable consumer brand. Under his leadership, the group launched the 386 and Pentium which helped usher in the personal computer era. During that time, the company also increased annual revenues from $1.9 billion to more than $26 billion.
A genuine game-changer, his books High Output Management (1983) and Only the Paranoid Survive (1999) sit among the most highly regarded management books. He was married to his wife Eva Grove for 58 years and together, the couple had two daughters and eight grandchildren.
In additional to a vastly decorated career, he was also an active philanthropist who was involved with public advocacy surrounding issues which remained deeply personal to him. Diagnosed with prostate cancer, he authored a cover story in Fortune detailing his decision to undergo an unconventional, but successful treatment.
He contributed to Parkinson’s research and urged the medical community to more efficiently study the disease from which he suffered. He provided $26 million to the City College of New York to help establish the Grove School of Engineering as well as contributed generously to a wide variety of charitable causes.
“He combined the analytic approach of a scientist with an ability to engage others in honest and deep conversation, which sustained Intel’s success over a period that saw the rise of the personal computer, the Internet, and Silicon Valley,” said Andy Bryant, Chairman of Intel.
