Intel's Andy Grove to retire next year

BUSINESS WEEK runs a column called the Great Innovators and the last issue profiled Andy Grove, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, each playing a big part in turning Intel into the engine it is today.

There's a cute picture of the trio too - with Grove sporting a Zapata style moustache that hinted he maybe went disco dancing in the seventies, a la Saturday Night Fever.

Business Week interviewed Grove for the piece and right at the end it's revealed that he will resign as chairman emeritus in 2005. Next year, Craig Barrett will step down as CEO of Intel too.

We've met Grove a few times and it's hard to believe that his style doesn't permeate the corporate culture of the chip giant. We've watched him field questions from a number of hacks and it's clear that the harder and more penetrating the question, the more he's likely to answer it.

Like Barrett's probable successor, Paul Otellini, we've seen him make mincemeat of journos who ask vague, uninformed and woolly questions.

Intel has a corporate policy for its employees to disagree with their managers and to pursue their own ideas, but there's different schools of thought about whether this fosters new ideas or just creates political situations with managers which might be better avoided.

These guys in the chip companies are tough cookies who make their counterparts in touchy-feely software firms seem like gutless teddy bears. While Grove has taken a back seat since he became chairman emeritus a few years ago, there's little doubt that he's exercised considerable influence at a higher level.

Quite a few of the current senior VPs, such as Pat Gelsinger and Sean Maloney, are Grove's proteges. Gelsinger told me once over dinner that Grove had taken a personal interest in his education at Intel while he was a lowly staffer, encouraging his education and helping him to progress inside the firm.

Grove's departure may be considered symbolic, but coupled with the fact that Barrett retires next year too, it's indicative of a larger change in the company, with a younger breed of braves taking over the mantle.

You can find the Business Week profile, here. µ