The search for a new leader over at AMD is finally over: today the company has appointed Rory Read, Lenovo's former COO, as its new president, CEO and board member.
The announcement concludes a seven-month search after AMD's previous CEO, Dirk Meyer, was ousted in January due to a disagreement with the board over the company's failure to regain traction in the server market and move into the rapidly growing tablets and smartphones business.
Read will take over from Tom Seifert, who served as the temporary leader after Meyer's departure. He will be charged with the difficult task of pushing the company towards a more mobile world, while also narrowing the gap between AMD and Intel in the x86 microprocessor market – which is still both companies' bread and butter.
"I'm very pleased to be joining AMD at this important time in its history," said Read. "AMD is a true innovator and is uniquely positioned to lead the industry forward, delivering the next big thing both within the PC ecosystem and beyond. AMD has strong momentum and the opportunity to continue profitably gaining share based on its highly differentiated products, solid financial foundation, and passionate and committed employees. I'm excited to be joining AMD's employees as we write the next chapter not just for the company, but for the industry and consumers around the world."
During his time at Lenovo, Rory P. Read rose from managing Lenovo's Americas group and driving double-digit revenue growth all the way to up to the role of president and COO of the company in 2009. Prior to Lenovo, Read spent 23 years at IBM, where he held a range of management positions.
According to reports AMD had previously approached at least four individuals with an offer to become the company's next CEO. The four candidates in question were Apple's newly appointed CEO Tim Cook, Oracle Co-President Mark Hurd, EMC COO Pat Gelsinger, and Carlyle Group Managing Director Greg Summe. All of them turned down the offer.