AMD CEO Rory Read has stepped down from his role as chief executive, president and board member, effective immediate. He is being replaced by chief operating officer Dr. Lisa Su who will also serve as company president and take his seat on the board of directors.
AMD didn't provide a specific reason for Read's departure, only going as far as to say it was part of a transition plan. The 52-year-old, who took over the helm in 2011 following the resignation of Dirk Meyer, will remain with the company through the end of the year in an advisory role.
During a conference call on the matter, Su promised that the company would not exit the x86 microprocessor space and that ARM and the x86 lines would co-exist moving ahead.
Su joined AMD in January 2012 as senior vice president and general manager of the company's global business units and was responsible for driving end-to-end business execution of AMD's products and solutions. She was promoted to chief operating officer this past June which, according to Anandtech, was to prepare her for the CEO position.
Su certainly appears qualified for the job. Before her time at AMD, she was a member of the technical staff at Texas Instruments in their semiconductor process and device center. Following that stint, she spent 13 years at IBM in various engineering and business leadership positions then joined Freescale Semiconductor as chief technology officer in 2007.
Su is only the fifth CEO in company history.