Intel’s Interim CEO Tells Staff He Doesn’t Want the Job

(Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp. interim Chief Executive Officer Bob Swan, who replaced the ousted Brian Krzanich, told the chipmaker's employees he doesn't want the job permanently, according to a person familiar.

Swan made his comments during an all-hands meeting after the announcement that Krzanich had left the company, said the person, who asked not to be identified speaking about an internal forum. Swan, Intel's chief financial officer, will continue with the duties of that role while temporarily acting as the company's leader and caretaker. Krzanich was asked to resign after the company was notified he had broken rules forbidding managers from having relationships with employees.

By removing himself as a candidate for the CEO post, Swan is further limiting the internal options for Intel's board, which has chosen leaders from within throughout the company's 50-year history. Intel said it's launching a search for a replacement and will consider candidates who work for the Santa Clara, California-based company as well as those from the outside.

Krzanich's abrupt departure broke a run of carefully managed successions at the world's second-largest chipmaker. Several of his peers, who were likely to have been natural candidates for the role, were pushed out or chose to leave during Krzanich's tenure. BK, as the former CEO was known, also appointed a large number of senior executives from outside the company. Under his predecessors, top posts generally had been filled internally. Executives such as Stacy Smith, Renee James, Kirk Skaugen and Diane Bryant all left Intel while Krzanich was in charge.

Intel's stock has fallen more than 7 percent since the June 21 announcement that its CEO was leaving.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack

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