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AMD CEO Steps Down

Sagittarius   on 18 July 2008 - 02:16 · 14 comments & 8171 views

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AMD announced today that Hector Ruiz is stepping down from his position as chief executive officer in favor of President and COO Dirk Meyer, who was elected by the board of directors to fill the newly opened position; in turn, will become executive chairman of AMD and chair of the board of directors. Ruiz, 62, joined AMD as president and chief operating officer in January 2000 and became AMD's chief executive officer on April 25, 2002. "AMD has fundamentally altered the industry landscape, leading the innovation agenda while delivering greater choice and better experiences for our customers and users," said Ruiz. "Dirk is a gifted leader who possesses the right skills and experience to continue driving AMD and the industry forward in new, compelling directions. I am placing the company in excellent hands."

"Dirk’s election to CEO is the final phase of a two-year succession plan developed and implemented jointly by AMD’s board of directors and executive team," said Robert Palmer, lead independent director. "Under Hector’s strong leadership, AMD drove the industry adoption of pervasive 64-bit and multicore computing, became a trusted enterprise-class partner to leading technology suppliers and significantly expanded its global footprint in high-growth markets like China."

Thanks for the tip, Nehemoth!

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#1 Pixil Eyes on 18 Jul 2008 - 02:23
Well, no wonder Hector Ruiz quit as the CEO of AMD earlier today -- the chipmaker just announced its second quarter results, and they're not good. In addition to an overall $269M operating loss, the company is taking an $876M charge against the purchase of ATI so it can abandon the handheld graphics and digital TV markets. To be honest, we hadn't been hearing much about ATI's plans in those areas, so it's probably for the best the company is focusing on getting Barcelona out the door after the launch of Puma -- but we doubt much is going to happen with a power vacuum at the top and a bottom line that's bleeding red.


Source

They needed it.
(1 reply) #2 Recon415 on 18 Jul 2008 - 02:54
All we can do is hope that the new CEO will guide AMD in a better direction. From what I've heard, they're not doing so well at the moment...
#2.1 Airlink on 18 Jul 2008 - 03:12
Um.... yeah! Intel's CPUs have been consistently outperforming AMD's CPUs for more than two years now. Add to that that only recently did AMD-ATI manage to squeak by Nvidia for the GPU performance crown (after Nvdida had been steadily beating the crap out of AMD's cards for no less than four generations of cards) and you have to wonder how it is that AMD is staying in business. More, you have to wonder how Hector Ruiz held onto his job for so long.
#3 ChrisJ1968 on 18 Jul 2008 - 03:23
AMD hopefully will come back strong. I've been an AMD fan for many years. I've owned only one Intel CPU ever and that was the 133mhz CPU back in 1997. I've owned nothing but AMD from the AMD 120mhz through this AMD64 2700+.

I just like AMD being the underdog, and their prices have been generally good.
(1 reply) #4 +DrDrrae on 18 Jul 2008 - 05:44
I hope most of you realize competition is a good thing. If AMD didn't hadily beat Intel's P4's, we probably wouldn't have the cards we have today. Even if you don't particularly like AMD, their business is needed in order to keep Intel's and NVIDIA's prices down while still innovating.
#4.1 boho on 18 Jul 2008 - 07:29
Hallelujah brother! I've found AMD's offerings perfectly acceptable, and at a good price.

I fully agree, that Intel need competition, to push price and innovation. Interestingly, Intel are again being perused by the EU, regarding collusion with a European PC manufacturer to only install Intel CPU's in their product range. AMD need to keep their eye on the ball. It has taken years for people to wake up to a low specification disk-less system. Unfortunately the first offerings are a little mickey mouse. But once established these light low end disk-less machines are going to take the market by storm. People lugging around heavy suitcases (laptops) will be laughed at, as much as the "brolly" and bowler hat, of London past!
#5 thealexweb on 18 Jul 2008 - 09:37
I think this is a good idea, maybe there after publicity or a better board of executives.
#6 some_guy on 18 Jul 2008 - 11:38
its about time! Ruiz was all talk and no walk (maybe during the good years he was a good leader)... the guy replacing him looks promising.
(2 replies) #7 obsolete_power on 18 Jul 2008 - 16:48
"AMD has fundamentally altered the industry landscape, leading the innovation agenda while delivering greater choice and better experiences for our customers and users," said Ruiz. "Dirk is a gifted leader who possesses the right skills and experience to continue driving AMD and the industry forward in new, compelling directions. I am placing the company in excellent hands."


Here is the same quote from Ruiz without the [bull****] [/bull****] tags:

"AMD has fundamentally altered the industry landscape in the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading the innovation agenda while delivering greater choice and better experiences for our customers and users," said Ruiz. "It was all sunshine and happiness until our biggest competitor introduced the Core series microprocessors and AMD has been in a downfall ever since. Our customers expected AMD to take on the Core Duo with an innovative product that would not only offer them more value but unprecedented performance both in professional applications as well as in entertainment applications. Sadly, under my command, this did not take place. Product after product that I have introduced had failed to deliver even a smidge of what the Core Duo and now the new Core 2 Duo made possible. I would like to take this opportunity to bow my head in shame and apologize to both you, the customers as well as to the shareholders whom we've continuously let down for not being able to deliver competitive products. We tried to save the company by acquiring ATI Technologies but that sunk us lower into financial trouble and now our Q2 2008 results show a catastrophic $1.2 billion in losses. Dirk is a gifted leader who possesses the right skills and experience to steer AMD away from almost certain bankruptcy. I was not competent enough to keep this from happening but rest assured that I am placing the dying company in excellent hands. AMD will once again flourish! HEIL HITLER!"
#7.1 +macf13nd on 18 Jul 2008 - 19:55
and breathe.......
#7.2 bluarash on 19 Jul 2008 - 15:57
Was it really necessary to put in a Hitler reference to the statement?
(2 replies) #8 Mike Frett on 19 Jul 2008 - 00:03
I just bought an AMD CPU and Mobo. My first dual core. I weighed what I did with prices and AMD was my answer. I think I'll be happy with an 4400+ over my current P4 2.8.
#8.1 obsolete_power on 19 Jul 2008 - 19:12
The 4400+ was the norm about 3 years ago. You know that for about $50 more you could have gotten a Core 2 Duo that will smoke the 4400+ out of the water.
#8.2 Mike Frett on 20 Jul 2008 - 01:48
(obsolete_power said @ #8.1)
The 4400+ was the norm about 3 years ago. You know that for about $50 more you could have gotten a Core 2 Duo that will smoke the 4400+ out of the water.


I don't have the money dude. I got what I could. Besides, I couldn't find any Intel boards with at least 3 usable PCI slots.

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