Andy Bryant (left) will move out of his board chairmanship role in favor of Medtronic’s Omar Ishrak. Alyssa Henry also joined the Intel board, the company said Tuesday.
New York Correspondent: Bangladeshi-American Omar Ishrak has been elected chairman of the Intel Corporation board of directors succeeding Andy Bryant who stepped down after serving for seven years. At its Jan. 15 meeting, the board of the Santa Clara company elected lead independent director Omar Ishrak chairman. He is the chairman and CEO of medical technology company Medtronic and was first named to Intel’s board in March 2017.
Also at the Jan. 15 meeting, the board elected Square, Inc. executive Alyssa Henry to the board. She is seller lead for financial services and hardware company Square and leads that company’s global engineering, product management, design and other functions for Square’s seller-facing products.
The change in board leadership isn’t completely a surprise, as former chairman Andy Bryant said last March that he didn’t intend to stand for re-election at this year’s shareholder meeting.
The company had waived a board rule last year that allowed Bryant to stay on for a seventh year as chairman. The company’s bylaws state a chairman can only serve two, three-year terms.
Bryant, who is based at Intel’s Oregon operation, worked at the chipmaker for 38 years. He held several positions over his career, including chief financial officer of the chipmaker. He was named to the board in 2011 when he was appointed chairman.
Bryant will remain a board member through this year’s shareholder meeting. His tenure had previously been extended to ensure a smooth transition to Intel’s new CEO Bob Swan, who was named last January.
“Andy has been a rudder for Intel during a time of change and transformation. He has led the board with integrity and always with Intel’s best interest in mind,” said Swan in a written statement.
Under Bryant’s tenure as chair, the company has undergone tremendous change against a backdrop of a shifting computing market. Intel has been repositioning around the growing need to store, analyze and move the vast amounts of data created by connected devices that make up daily life. The company has dubbed products that serve these needs as its “data-centric” businesses.
This has also meant major restructuring of the company’s businesses and workforce. In 2016 Intel cut 11 percent of its global workforce, or 12,000 roles. The company is reportedly once again restructuring elements of the business, this time within its data center group, and rumors of a new round of layoffs.
As the company has shifted, the board has also changed dramatically. Henry is the seventh new independent director added to Intel’s board since 2016.
BP/CS
