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The Long View: Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel

39m 41s

The Long View: Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel

Lip Bootan, the CEO of Intel, shares his journey from his childhood in Malaysia to leading one of the world’s most iconic semiconductor companies. Born the youngest of five, he pursued physics and nuclear engineering at MIT after initial rejections from other US schools. His career spanned venture capital, where he grew a small fund to $4 billion, and a successful 15-year turnaround of Cadence Design Systems, where he learned to listen to employees and customers. At Intel, Bootan took over a struggling company that had fallen behind competitors like TSMC. Despite widespread advice against accepting the role, a friend’s plea to “save Intel” motivated him, along with his wife’s support. Upon arrival, he immediately restructured engineering to report directly to him, reduced management layers, and prioritized customer feedback, documenting 14 key issues. He also overhauled the culture by cutting excessive meetings and fostering accountability, insisting that bad news be shared swiftly. The US government became a major shareholder after initial tensions, but Bootan secured their backing by outlining a clear two-year turnaround plan. His leadership focuses on restoring Intel’s product competitiveness and foundry business, emphasizing speed, transparency, and customer-centric innovation to reclaim its industry position.

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(upbeat music) With all your success, this is iconic company. This is so important for industry and for country. Before you retire, save Intel, that touched my heart. (upbeat music) Welcome back to the angle from T-Roll Price, a podcast for curious investors. Just a reminder that outside of the US, this podcast is for investment professionals only. For this episode of The Long View, I sat down with Lip Bootan, CEO of Intel, and Menlo Park, California. We discussed his journey to Intel, the future of AI infrastructure, and what it will take for one of technology's most iconic companies to compete in the next era of compute. Well, Lip Boot, thank you so much for joining us on the angle. We really appreciate you taking the time to be with us. Intel is interesting. It's one of the few companies whose turnaround matters not only to shareholders, but to the structure of the entire global semiconductor supply chain, and frankly, to US national, you know, sovereign sheet. Before we get into that, though, I'd love to start with you. I always like to get to know my guests a little bit personally, and you've got a really interesting story. Born in Malaysia, youngest of five, your father was in the journalism business, your mother worked at the university. As a kid, I'm curious, what did you love to do? Like, what did you spend your time on when you were a little kid? So first of all, thank you so much for inviting me for this podcast. And I think a little bit of my background, born in Malaysia, Moa, Johor, just north of Singapore. And I followed my mom to Singapore for my education. And high school, college, before I came to US for graduate school. And when I was young, my brother and sister, my mom was very strict with them. So they had to play piano lessons and all the way up to performance and composer. And my brother is an orchestra playing violin. And then I was supposed to do the same thing in the piano. And I was just too lazy. And then I left catching spider and I played basketball, volleyball as a team. And so I kind of having fun. And my mom, you know, being the youngest, it led me to whatever I want. So turned out to be a lot of freedom to do that. That's great. And then my mom was also for some reason. Is that well? All your brother and sister, they sent to English school. The last one is that well, I sent you to Chinese school. So learned a Confucian theory and everything. And so I always apologize to me that sorry the English is not good as a second language. So in some way I survive. Well, you definitely did more than survive. That's a really great story. I was also the youngest. The youngest always get away with a little more. That's a good place to be in the birth order. I love basketball. I love volleyball. And then the vocal lesson and piano is kind of boring for me. And until now I appreciate that. That's why I was on board at San Francisco Opera. And I love music. And then you can't do it yourself. And you just be supportive. Just be a supporter. So then you went on to major in physics. What did something in particular draw you to physics? Or just there was your good, good in that area and you liked it? In some way it's followed my brother and sister. And in some way my brother is a rose collar. And then went to Cambridge and Oxford. And then I tried to-- my teacher always said, well, you're doing great. But you're less than your brother. And so you know that feeling. And so I want to do something different for my brother. And he become the cardiologist to artificial heart. And he do physics. So initially I was doing physics just like him in Nanyang Technology University. And I said, if physics thought they're pretty good, I'm good with mathematics. Physics is all the physical. And then it's good training. And I did it in three years. And then-- but they said, well, your brother is better. So I decided to change to come to US. And then do a nuclear engineering. Right. So you were the slacker. So you had to go to MIT to get your masters in nuclear engineering. OK. I applied to Berkeley and Stanford. They reject me. Oh, OK. So MIT, for some reason, they accept me to be a nuclear engineer. That's why I pursued that. That's great. What was your impression of the US when you-- was that your first time in the US when you went to MIT? But what was I-- I am. So from Singapore and kind of exciting to come to MIT at Boston. And then they're so excited. The first time to see snow. And sometimes I just fall out of this Singapore. Never see a snow. A piece of snow. So in some ways, it's kind of exciting. And of course, the Charles River, the Boston. And it just is amazing. I just love that. Yeah, it's a beautiful place. So you got your degree from MIT. And then you did some technical work. You were in the energy industry for a while doing some of that. But then you ended up with a really interesting background. And you moved to Walden, one of the most important venture firms, especially in the Asia Pacific region. It's also a little bit about how that happened. So I didn't finish my PhD because of three my other next student, the placement director, because their office had the icon. So I love to do my homework at this office. I think it's kind of bored. I'm the only person in the room. So you talk to me. And I said, which department? I said, department 22, the new grad engineering. And the jaw drop is a get out of here. There's no new co-power pump built at the three mile. I said, I have a full research assistant. And I'm comfortable. And then doing my PhDs, don't listen to your professor. Just get out. So I wrap up my master degree. And then I said, well, I don't know where to apply. I'm a foreign student. Is that OK? Just apply to one company called EDS Nuclear. So I applied my whole life. I wrote one resume to apply to them. And then they sent me a three day trip living the hotel and I was visiting Francisco. So I went and visited. Then they gave me a job. And then so long as we hold, they asked me to do a rotation. So they said, I live, what do you like to do? I said, I have no clue. So is that OK? We put a program for you every three months. You go to different locations. At the end, it's available, which deficient you want. And I said, maybe your office, doing project management, done. And so I worked with the president and then helping to do the project management. And one day, three of the senior executive vice president come here for lunch. And I said, I said, even to get some more budget or review, we can do it in a conference room. He said, promise you no business. And we just want to take you for lunch. It's OK. Great. And then long and behold, that lunch is basically asked me to join them to do a startup. OK. My first startup experience, that time, I'm only about 20 plus years old, 21 or 22. Nothing to lose. That's how you got there. OK. Interesting. Well, let's fast forward a little bit. I joined up in 2004 after a successful venture career, starting some of the most important companies in the industry supply chain, especially on the hardware side, which is interesting. So most people now think of venture as sort of the software side, but really big on the hardware side. You joined the cadence board in 2004. And then in 2009, you became CEO, had that job for 12 years. Interestingly, though, when you took over cadence, it was an established company, but going through a pretty rough time. So what did you learn in terms of sort of turning around that company that you've had to bring forward as you've thought about your role at Intel today? Yeah. So a little bit background. And I'll send out the become venture capitalists. And I tried to knock on everybody's doors. And everybody said that nice to meet you, but nobody gave me offer. So I now find out the small firm called Warden Capital, it's an SBIC. And so I told them the two partners, I said, you don't have to pay me. I'll pay for myself. And so I end up that I raised about 3.3 million. That's how I start Warden International. And then right now, we manage about almost more than 4 billion under management. And then I cannot build brick by brick in terms of Asia because people thought that what is your master plan? Actually, I don't have a master plan. I just want to go and visit my mom in Singapore. And that's why I built that. And then long and behold, and venture capital, I really enjoy. And not to break about it. And under my watch on Warden International, we invest myself and also my son or my colleague. We have 153 IPO. And 126 MN8 transactions are successful one. So not to break about it, I'd really enjoy it. And-- 3.3 million to 4 billion. That's a big return. 3 million is a start. 3 million. To become enough, a couple of billion under management. And so-- So with that, I kind of enjoyed doing that. One day I got called to join the company called Kaden Design to join the board. And I said, why do I need to join a Kaden's board? And they're not number one, you're number two. Synopsis number one. So I kind of hesitate to join. And then the chief, my friend at Synopsis said, "Libu, you shouldn't join. Number two, you should join us." But long story short, I decided to join number two. And so enjoy doing that. And one day, phone keep ringing. Finally, I pick up the phone. What's up? So Libu, can you come back quickly? I said, yeah, tomorrow I'm flying back. And then I found that they said, our Libu would just fire the CEO. And then you should join. You become an interim CEO. That is $2.42 when I took over. And then I suppose to do three months. And I want to go back to my venture business that I first love. And they said, "About three months, we do a search." And then initially they include me in the search committee. But later on, I was so busy with customer. So I said, "You know, why not you guys do the search? You find the CEO. Let me know I pass a key to him. Then I move back to the venture capital." And one day, the chairman came over. And we smiled in face. I said, "Okay, now I can give you the key. I can go back on my key." And now my warden side. Libu, you can keep your key. I said, wait a minute. So that's my three-month journey, become 15 years. And I'll 12 and a half years as CEO. Then I recode my successor. And then I set on two years as executive chairman. And then I stepped down after 15 years. And then just being a large shareholder. And so, learn quite a bit. And of first of all, I never been the CEO. So the director of human HR gave me three books. And I'll see you for dummy. So I read every page. And then one thing good is, in all you don't have the background. And I'm very open-minded. So I make a huge mistake. I reach out to the employee or hand meeting. I said that if you have any good idea about how to run this company, send me an email. And then I received 3,000 plus email per day. But I promise I respond each one of them. And some of them I visit them. They drop to tears. I will send an email to CEO. Never got reply. And you show up in my cubic curve. And try to listen to us. It's amazing. And we love it. Love you. So a long story short, I stay on for 15 years, turn around the company. And then I kind of form my thesis of how to turn around. So it's interesting. One of the things that you just mentioned about your cadence experience was really getting to know the technicals and understanding the details of what the company does and what really matters to customers. Let's fast forward to your time at Intel now. So kind of a similar story. You're on the board. They make a CEO change. And they ask you to step in and run the company. What was the first thing that you did when you got to Intel? Yeah, good news is that two years on the board. And also before that, when I came from school, Intel is a role model for successful semiconductor company, in terms of growth margin, in terms of paranoia survive, those things that I care a lot, and a lot of emirations. So it's kind of sad to see that the company is kind of spiraled down. And meanwhile, it's an iconic company. And it's so important for the industry and also for the United States. So when they ask me to step in to be a CEO, it's not an easy decision. Couple of very good friends of mine in the industry, they are CEO somewhere and also some top executive. 80% of people I talk to, they tell me, don't do it. First of all, no guarantee of success. Secondly, you have so much success in building company. You turn around, Kaden, design, you know need another one. People know that you're good. And people only remember the last one. So if you screwed up, you're going to be failure for the rest of your life. So it's quite compelling. But there's one friend of mine who told me that Lippo, he sent me a very nice thoughtful, he from Seattle. A good friend of mine is a good customer. He's a Lippo with all your success. This is iconic company. Before you retire, save Intel. Let touch my heart. And then the other part is five years ago, I was one of the final candidate, two final candidates. That time I decided not to take it because, you know, I did promise under root my successor at Kaden's, I would stay on until he become a CEO. And so timing is not right. So I pass. And then, but this time, you know, my wife even supported. And last one, he said no. And for very good reason for family. And then this time, you know, at home, she's the boss. Yeah. We managed for 44 years. Oh, congratulations. And he said that this time, I think your heart is already in. I can see you emotionally. So upset about some of the things happen. Yep. You must have to do it. I will support you. Oh, that's great. For them in a lot of me. So I think I decided to jump in. Yep. And then that's my beginning of the Intel journey. So when you get there, the company's really had a struggle. It's gone from sort of the iconic, you know, you truly differentiated manufacturer to sort of well surpassed by several competitors, especially TSMC. What was the first thing that you-- did you diagnose it as a strategy problem, an execution problem, or something else? So one thing I did is I decided from day one, just back to the cadence, I want to have all engineering report to me. So then I can start to identify where are the problem with the product, where is the problem with the foundry, yield, and customer feedback. And so first of all, I think engineering, so that I have a better understanding what went wrong. Secondly, I spent a lot of time with customer. And customer shared with me the label, we are so excited. You become the CEO. And they give me a lot of feedback, some of the big mistake make. And one of them is very interesting. They say, well, they are so proud. They lecture us, not only listen to us, they lecture us. They will basically quietly design Intel out. Now we share with you the 14 screw up that you have. And I took down every single screw up. And I get back to them one by one. And that's why he said, and lipo, we just love you. And we just delighted that you listen carefully, what we describe to you. So one thing good about me is I listen to the customer. I take notes every meeting I can prepare. I take notes. And then make sure that we correct the mistake. And then I will tell the team, look, you have to tell me all the bad news. If I went to the customer, I go to the customer, they share something that you didn't share with me. You're in deep trouble. So share with me bad news. Then you will be fine. We have that expression. Bad news needs to travel fast. But if you always travels fast, that's not a problem. You can always celebrate later on in nanosecond to celebrate for it. And that's kind of my style. And then the other part is very important to focus on changing the culture. I found out that when I took over, we have many layers of management. And then some of them is not or 10. And I tried to swing it down to five. And so hope people are accountable. So when I something screw up, everybody point finger or somebody else. Nobody take responsible for it. So I said, well, I'm going to put people in charge. That they are accountable to me. And I go down to six, seven, layer down. It's not micromanaging, but it's kind of mixture that we really addressing the issue of design and listen to the customer. And then make sure we correct that. So that accountability is very important. Secondly, the middle management love to have meetings. So I talked to more than 100 top executive from Intel before. They told me the 89% of their time spent in meetings. At the end, same presentation, I had to repeat 36 times. And nobody make decision. Or the decision maker have no clue about the product. They don't make a decision. So I hear that loud and clear. So I decided, you know, speed of-- I call it the speed of light. And so you have to move fast like startup. And then don't have this long meeting. So I'm the first one second example. It's a meeting without agenda, without clear, deliverable answer of the meeting, which is cancer the meeting. And then all of the meeting that I don't see. see the value that I can bring in. There's no point for me in the meeting. So people suddenly need to realize, libel does don't like meeting. If you want to have a meeting, we better prepare, because libel wants to have your material two, three days beforehand. He really reads through every single one. You don't have to go to slides to slide presentation. He will ask you the five questions that he want to know, the meeting finished. And then you're done. And they're done. So I think to be respectful, they prepare a lot. So make sure that you pay attention to it, so that you keep then the honest feedback or decision making. So you don't have to waste people time. I think people like that. So I think all in all, those are the few key changes. Listen to customer. And in our focus on the right product, address and change the product, we can go into detail, which are the products we need to change. And then what are the foundry and understanding the foundry business, and not just the yield, performance, defect, density, cycle time? Also, you need to have the right IP to set the customer. Without that, you don't even talk about customer. They won't engage. So before we get into that, I do want to ask you. So when you got started, you had a lot of things to change, I didn't tell you, just talked about those. You didn't get the warmest reception from the US government out of the gate. But then you met with the president. And now the US is a large shareholder. And I think you have regular contact with at least the administration through the Commerce Secretary or through the president directly. So how does it impact running the company when you have a large shareholder that's the US government? Yeah, first of all, I think not the steady morning where I won't keep bringing the set of our president once he had you resign. And so first of all, I kind of talk to myself. Because I usually morning, I have a gym and swim before I do my work. And that day, it would be disrupted because of this phone call. So I had to pay attention. First of all, I just tell myself, I don't need this job. I come here just to save Intel. So take myself out the picture. That's focused on what need to be done for the company. And so first of all, I just set up a appointment to see a president from. And then good news is they listened to me. At least let me explain. I come from a born in Singapore. I went to MIT. I never lived a country after this. My grandchildren, my children, they all live in US. This is our home. I never lived in China. And so I'm glad they listened to me. And then so very clear, after they listened to me, is that level? We want to one 10% of the company of your vision. And I did share my vision. How-- they asked me how long ago to turn around? I said, two years. Give me two years. And then the next day-- today is Monday afternoon. Friday, I want to announce that we own 10%. So you work out with Harvard and Scott. And that's my assignment. So I work really hard on it. So good news. We negotiate the term. And I think it's a very attractive term. It's a very commercial term. They have no governance. They have no board seat. And then I think you saw the social media. They are very proud that we make more than five times. Yeah. We spend a good investment. Yeah. So I think they're happy. They have been good cheerleader and be supportive. And that's what I need. So let's take it to where we are today with the business. So data center, CPU usage is exploding as agentic use cases come. And for a long time, it was sort of all about the GPU. But now the CPU has really come to the fore. So a lot of demand for anything CPU related. Obviously that's Intel's core. But competitions actually really picking up. We've got AMD and Nvidia announcing their new CPU. Hyper scalers are designing their own. So take us to where you see your competitive advantage today and what you've got on the road map here. So I think you're not in some way if you kind of monitoring what I say in my earning call. And I thought that CPU is very important, especially when you go into the agentic and inference. And I'm glad in life, sometimes you need a break. And the break is turned out to be the case. And then as you know, I also invest in a lot of frontier company. And so understanding the reinforcement learning and then the agentic, managing all the agents, orchestration, CPU actually is better use. For the ratio, you know, from training is 1 CPU to 8 GPU. And then now I starting to see CPU to GPU. The ratio for inference is almost 1 to 1. So that turned out to be a big huge opportunity. Great opportunity for me. Like anytime you see a huge opportunity, people all want to come in. So first of all, I think clearly AMD is very well respected. Lisa is a very good friend of mine. And VLite delighted that he's doing very well. I still remember he comes to me. He said, "Lipo, should I take this job?" And I told him, "Toward that your market cap cannot be slower than umbrella that I'm a chairman." And you got to be higher than that. And I did not hit on the fabulous job on that. Then of course, the other part is arm. And VD is based on arm. And even arm themselves, they want to not just IP licensing, they also try to build the CPU products. So now I decided to build within Intel to do that. So something that purpose built silicon, GPU, and also some of these connectivity, purpose built silicon based on different workload, that would be the future for Intel for growth. And so different applications, different types of CPU, you need to do surgical so that you can really optimize for different workload. And the other part, we have the CPU. Now I'm quietly building my GPU. I hire the top CPU architect. And I'm also going to get one or two top notch CPU architect so that I can build the different workload for different agentech AI. And so I think that part, stating on this way, my growth engine can be interesting. And then I have the CPU, GPU, I have the advanced packaging. And the most advanced packaging, I had the coming up really strong on the process foundry. So I have the supply chain. I can build a purpose built in a different application. Right now I'm going after the vertical market. I'm going after. So I think stating that would be my future growth. So you're really taking the expression, your margin is my opportunity here to bring it home for Intel. One of the things that somebody's explained to me when you think about the foundry business and just how competitive that is, it's a little bit like being on a treadmill where every two minutes somebody increases the speed at which you have to run. Do you feel like you've got to start running even faster now because Intel kind of fell off that treadmill for a while? How do you get back up to pace with these competitors? So I think first thing I do is basically strengthen my balance sheets. I still remember a first few months, some of the talent I try to bring on board is a little, literally a bank up company. And then why should I join you? I love you, but you know, not joining. But finally, I address the balance sheet. That's the most important for step. Secondly, it's really attracts some of the best talent I can get. Each one of them are building something with the GPU architect, CPU architect, something with the foundry. So I pick some of the leading technology leader to come on board and then helping me to drive and also outside help. And I also change the culture. Intel used to be very proud, don't even share the data. And I insist to share the data. And then the next day, you know, the people they got the data, they call me up lipo, the number look horrible. And I say, well, that's why I'm asking you for help. So help my good friend. So they did help me. And then the other party, some of the, you know, we call it Intel tree. These are the older node. I will use this very poor. I just insist somebody to fly over there, don't come back until you fix the problem. And then basically, if you see that I increased my cat packs because I had to buy a quickman for building up the, you know, the lead time is quite long. Well, and the cat packs intensity has gotten so high now. I mean, you've really got to invest behind these things aggressively. So I will be doing that. And then so I think, you know, I'm excited. And so I think we're going to be a major player. And then in some way back to this national treasure. Right. For the advanced technology found, we did this only one in US. It's us. Yeah. And then 90 plus percent is manufacturing in Taiwan. Right. So something, you know, when you have only one company, it's always very risky for resilient and robust supply chain. You need that. We learned that from the memory now. Right. It's a big crisis going on. Yeah. So again, I think, you know, from the product side, I'm building up to regain my market share. And then some of the new market I'm going after. And then on the PC client and the big fun opportunity is a genetic AI. And then then the physical AI going be a big wave, you need to have a full stack. So I also going to move into the whole system platform. So it's not just selling a chip. So I want to have my software, I want to have, that's why you saw my announcement with Foxcom. I'm going to be more partnership and more in the focus on the best technology leadership team to drive me. So in the way, I'm just not just, if you saw my computer text speech, it's not I do the whole speech. I have my colleagues doing some part of it. So in a way, it's a basketball team, you have a team and then you just play your role. So I become a conductor and then cheering for the audit executive team to deliver and I support them. And you're going to see that. And same thing I embrace, the partnership you can't do everything yourself. Well, and it sounds like the vision here is so much more than just, you know, the way Intel is described today, right? You have the PC business, you have the data center business, you have the foundry business, but this is this is a lot more over time if you're bringing in all of these different layers and going and beyond that. What do you think is a reasonable time frame to deliver on all these different ambitions that you have? Is this a five year plan, a 10 year plan? When I came on board, the board and I we work on five year plan. And then five year plan, I think I accomplished in 14 months. So the last morning they asked me, "Libu, it got to be bigger." And then you already get what you want in five years, I suppose you did it in 14 months. So I think I grew up five years, 10 year plan with God willing, you know, I will continue to do that. And then I tell my team, you know, I'm here for 10 years. So don't think that I'm going to leave some way. And then we just focus on the business focus on the product, focus on the process. I say if I'm going to be here for 10 years. And then of course, just like, you know, at Cadence, I will gradually bring in talent that potentially my successor. So you can stay tuned, see some of the people I brought on board. Those will be the candidate for me. And you know, I want to have a strong bench. And I told my team, don't get too hang up about how many people report to you, how big a scope you are. Just be part of the team. We're going to be, we want to work for championship like New York, Nick. We want to be a championship team. Let's do each one play our part. I will play my part. I will get my job done. You get your job done. And we help each other. And then we are getting the coach, the coach us to how to be a good team player. And then win the championship. And the goal is much higher than what I said. And then so let's work on it for next 10 years. And hopefully it will be a great company that we all can be proud of. Let me ask you one more before we go to our kind of lightning round at the end. We're clearly in an amazing capex cycle, like one that's hard to even put into any historical context because it's so amazing. But all cycles end at some point. If you had to just make a prediction on how this one will eventually end, what would that, what would be the cause? Yeah, I think it's hard to predict. But let me just show a few pointers that I kind of form my own opinion. So one this whole AI growth is very exciting to build a massive infrastructure. And I think the thing that it's a little bit reminding me of internet. But this is bigger than internet. But if you look at internet, there's going to be a few big winners. And they are really laser focused on what application they want to drive. You look at Netflix, you look at Amazon. You know, it's really disrupt the industry and by this new way of doing things. Then you look at AI, I think you can starting to see thing is changing. So I think you're starting to see some of this AI movement. I really focus on what application, what ROI, you know, in fact, I just joined the MIT CEO advisory board. And there's two professors present something with very eye catching. They are addressing today, they don't see the ROI. Yeah, they don't see the performance improvement. And in terms of productive. Part of your little academic studies that show that show that in some way is kind of keep you even though I may not agree to what they are presenting. But it's very important to focus what application, what are you driving. So you got to see the application. Then you trip it down, design the product to drive those applications. And then I think you have a better chance to succeed. And that's why I kind of formulate my strategy. And then so over time, I become the infrastructure or the silicon or platform providing those applications. Interesting, that's a smart way to do it. We've got a series coming in July on the angle actually looking at how AI moves from promise into real world impact. And that's really, it sounds like what you're getting at. I'd love to, if you don't mind, if you'll indulge me, we like to end these with a few rapid-fire questions. Just this is going to be a little wider variety. I will try. I'll go dead in. Well, see how you can do. We're going to bounce from Intel related to personal here. Okay, best you can short answer. Describe Intel today in one word. Technology. What's the first piece of technology you ever fell in love with? Quantum. What company outside of tech do you admire the most? I was in Netflix. What's your must-read every morning? Very good question. One is the morning, one is the evening. Okay. So the first thing in the morning, what did I did is meditation? Ah, okay. What about the evening? Evening was all meditation. Okay. But the morning of the meditation, and in fact, I do my meditation while I'm doing the swimming. Interesting. Every morning I swim. And you can meditate while you swim. That's great. Okay. Couple more. Your favorite guilty indulgence of food. The food that you eat that you probably shouldn't. You know, my favorite food is a king of fruit durian. You know, the spicy one. Yeah. You know, a lot of spice. Yeah. You open up. It tastes like the bitter, the better. It's a little bit like cheese. Yeah. You know, they call it the Mao San Wang Chinese word. Yeah. It's the, uh, mountain, mountain cat. Mountain cat. And that is the most bitter. And I love it. Okay. I've never had it. Yes. All right. If you could only do one of the following. Would you play a video game, a card game, or a board game? Card game. And then last one. Your favorite science fiction movie. Ah, I think, uh, Star Wolf. All right. That's mine too. Very good. This has been so fun. Thank you so much, Lipu. Really appreciate you taking the time to, uh, to spend with us here on the angle. Thank you so much. Again, I'm Eric Vile. Thank you for listening to the angle. We look forward to your company on future episodes. You can find more information about this and other topics on our website. Please rate and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. The angle, better questions, better insights, only from T-Rope Rice. I'm sure you'll find more information about this. I think it's a good idea to find information about this. Any forward-looking statements are for discussion purposes only and are never guaranteed. There should be no assumption that the securities were or will be profitable. T-Rope Rice is not affiliated with or a subsidy area of any company discussed. The views contained herein are those of the speakers as of the data they're recording and are subject to change without notice. These views made different from those of other T-Rope Rice associates and/or affiliates. Information is from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Please visit HTTPS, colon/////// www.tiroprice.com/en/uk/inslates/d/long/view/intel For full global issue or disclosures, this podcast is copyrighted by TiroPrice, 2026.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Lip Bootan, CEO of Intel, was born in Malaysia and studied at MIT, with a background in venture capital and a successful turnaround of Cadence Design Systems.
  2. He took the Intel CEO role after being moved by a friend’s plea to “save Intel,” despite 80% of industry contacts advising against it.
  3. Key initial actions included having all engineering report to him, listening to customer feedback (documenting 14 major screw-ups), and reducing management layers from 10 to 5 to increase accountability.
  4. He changed Intel’s culture by eliminating wasteful meetings, requiring agendas, and demanding that bad news be shared quickly to avoid surprises during customer visits.
  5. The US government became a large shareholder after initial skepticism, but Bootan secured support by presenting a two-year turnaround vision and emphasizing his commitment to the US.

Summary:

Lip Bootan, the CEO of Intel, shares his journey from his childhood in Malaysia to leading one of the world’s most iconic semiconductor companies. Born the youngest of five, he pursued physics and nuclear engineering at MIT after initial rejections from other US schools. His career spanned venture capital, where he grew a small fund to $4 billion, and a successful 15-year turnaround of Cadence Design Systems, where he learned to listen to employees and customers.

At Intel, Bootan took over a struggling company that had fallen behind competitors like TSMC. Despite widespread advice against accepting the role, a friend’s plea to “save Intel” motivated him, along with his wife’s support. Upon arrival, he immediately restructured engineering to report directly to him, reduced management layers, and prioritized customer feedback, documenting 14 key issues.

He also overhauled the culture by cutting excessive meetings and fostering accountability, insisting that bad news be shared swiftly. The US government became a major shareholder after initial tensions, but Bootan secured their backing by outlining a clear two-year turnaround plan. His leadership focuses on restoring Intel’s product competitiveness and foundry business, emphasizing speed, transparency, and customer-centric innovation to reclaim its industry position.

FAQs

He was the youngest of five, enjoyed catching spiders and playing basketball and volleyball, and attended Chinese school while his siblings went to English schools.

He followed his brother's path in physics at Nanyang Technology University, but switched to nuclear engineering at MIT after feeling overshadowed by his brother's achievements.

He joined Warden Capital, a small SBIC, offering to work without pay, and grew it from $3.3 million to over $4 billion under management.

He learned to listen to employees, respond to their emails, and be open-minded, which helped him build a thesis for turning around companies.

He had all engineering report to him to identify product and foundry issues, and spent significant time listening to customer feedback.

He reduced management layers from 10 to 5, emphasized accountability, minimized unnecessary meetings, and required materials to be sent days in advance for efficient discussions.

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