AMD Appoints New CEO, Dirk Meyer Resigns

[btarunr]

AMD today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Senior Vice President and CFO Thomas Seifert, 47, as interim CEO following the resignation of Dirk Meyer, 49, as president, CEO and a director of the company effective immediately.

A CEO Search Committee has been formed to begin the search for a new CEO. The Committee is led by Bruce Claflin, Chairman of AMD's Board of Directors, who has been named Executive Chairman of the Board as he assumes additional oversight responsibilities during the transition period. Seifert will maintain his current responsibilities as CFO and has asked not to be considered for the permanent CEO position.

"Dirk became CEO during difficult times. He successfully stabilized AMD while simultaneously concluding strategic initiatives including the launch of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, the successful settlement of our litigation with Intel and delivering Fusion APUs to the market," said Claflin.

"However, the Board believes we have the opportunity to create increased shareholder value over time. This will require the company to have significant growth, establish market leadership and generate superior financial returns. We believe a change in leadership at this time will accelerate the company's ability to accomplish these objectives."

Seifert joined AMD in 2009, and has more than 20 years of general management, global operations and financial management expertise. Immediately prior to joining AMD, Seifert served as COO and CFO of Qimonda AG, where he led the formation and subsequent IPO of the company. At Infineon AG, Seifert served as senior vice president and general manager in its Wireless Business Group.

In commenting on Seifert, Claflin said, "During his tenure at AMD, Thomas helped strengthen the company's balance sheet while demonstrating strong leadership and winning the respect of his peers. His operations and finance experience make him an excellent choice to guide the company as interim CEO."

"AMD enters 2011 with considerable product and financial momentum. Our roadmap for the year, including our "Llano" APU and 32nm "Bulldozer" based processors remain on track," said Seifert. "I believe we have significant opportunities to cement our leadership positions in several key market segments based on the strength of our upcoming products."

AMD Announces Certain Preliminary Fourth Quarter 2010 Results
AMD is announcing certain preliminary results for the fourth quarter 2010. Fourth quarter revenue increased 2 percent sequentially to approximately $1.65 billion and gross margin was approximately 45 percent. In addition, the company reaffirms its 2011 annual financial guidance as disclosed at its Financial Analyst Day last November.

AMD plans to release its final results for the fourth quarter after market close on Thursday, January 20, 2011, with a conference call at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET to provide additional details.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[TheMailMan78]

Wait what? Why? I mean this guy did a pretty damn good job from what I can see.

 

[chaotic_uk]

sorry but how is it going to improve things if they got rid of the person that pulled them out of the shit ? , can somebody explain this please

 

[v12dock]

What... ?? is going on?

 

[HXL492]

Dirk Meyer was meant to be the new hope for AMD and now this...

 

[Play3r]

 

[TheLaughingMan]

This seems so cold blooded. They write him up to be the Superman of AMD.....but then flip around and just say screw'em.

 

[HXL492]

Dirk Meyer resigned... He didn't get screwed by AMD...

 

[dir_d]

With Dirk leaves the affordable, well balanced, underdog. Now we shall see a more expensive, over the top side of AMD. It just seems that Dirk wanted to make good products and make them affordable but the board wants profits....Thats what i got out of that article.

 

[chaotic_uk]

Dirk Meyer resigned... He didn't get screwed by AMD...

resigned before they sacked him ?

 

[Wiselnvestor]

“Mark my words, at some point they're going to try to sell the company to ATIC. Let ATIC deal with fighting Intel, and the board/investors can pocket a nice profit. Certainly if you were trying to sell, you'd sack Dirk. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would let them do it.”


http://www.anandtech.com/show/4123/what-a-day-amds-ceo-dirk-meyer-resigns

A good read by Anand. IMHO, it could also mean Oracle, depends which company comes up with how much cash.


Business is cold blooded. It's only business.

 

[Frick]

I think he should take the name Dirk Diggler and switch careers.

 

[Swamp Monster]

now we shall see a more expensive, over the top side of amd. It just seems that dirk wanted to make good products and make them affordable but the board wants profits....thats what i got out of that article.

+1

 

[erixx]

In fact, the note makes me think he is indeed sacked, even if they mention resign.
Poor dork, that dirk, he helps a sinking ship and when it barely floats it's bye bye ...

 

[wahdangun]

WTF, dirk mayer was my fav. CEO, why AMD do this.

 

[TAViX]

Dirk was good, but they need someone better. They should also fire all those lazy guys in research and development too. The Intel is 2 (two) generations ahead of AMD already..

 

[Red_Machine]

This:

With Dirk leaves the affordable, well balanced, underdog. Now we shall see a more expensive, over the top side of AMD. It just seems that Dirk wanted to make good products and make them affordable but the board wants profits....Thats what i got out of that article.

And this:

“Mark my words, at some point they're going to try to sell the company to ATIC. Let ATIC deal with fighting Intel, and the board/investors can pocket a nice profit. Certainly if you were trying to sell, you'd sack Dirk. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would let them do it.”


http://www.anandtech.com/show/4123/what-a-day-amds-ceo-dirk-meyer-resigns

A good read by Anand. IMHO, it could also mean Oracle, depends which company comes up with how much cash.


Business is cold blooded. It's only business.

Seem plausible to me. If I was Dirk, I'd be feeling pretty betrayed right now.

 

[cdawall]

apparently the board assisted him into retirement

http://ashentech.com/index.php/topic,2585.0.html

http://www.computerbase.de/news/wir.../januar/amd-chef-dirk-meyer-nimmt-seinen-hut/

 

[TheMailMan78]

Dirk was good, but they need someone better. They should also fire all those lazy guys in research and development too. The Intel is 2 (two) generations ahead of AMD already..

I think that has more to do with funding then being "lazy". Anyway AMD got to where they are now by catching Intel with their pants down. I don't think Intel will make that mistake again. AMD I feel is in a permanently in the "price/performance" segment of the market. Which is fine by me. All they have to do is stay within half a generation of Intel at half the price and we all win!

 

[PaulieG]

I think that has more to do with funding then being "lazy". Anyway AMD got to where they are now by catching Intel with their pants down. I don't think Intel will make that mistake again. AMD I feel is in a permanently in the "price/performance" segment of the market. Which is fine by me. All they have to do is stay within half a generation of Intel at half the price and we all win!

That is the consumer perspective, which I agree with. However, shareholders are rarely happy with complacency and stagnation. They want innovation, excitemement and real competition. That is what brings profit. They are always going to look at it with "What have you done for me lately?". They frankly could give two shits what he did last few years. Fair or not, it's how it goes in big business.

 

[MetalRacer]

That is the consumer perspective, which I agree with. However, shareholders are rarely happy with complacency and stagnation. They want innovation, excitemement and real competition. That is what brings profit. They are always going to look at it with "What have you done for me lately?". They frankly could give two shits what he did last few years. Fair or not, it's how it goes in big business.

I think you nailed it Paulieg.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

”However, the Board believes we have the opportunity to create increased shareholder value over time. This will require the company to have significant growth, establish market leadership and generate superior financial returns. We believe a change in leadership at this time will accelerate the company’s ability to accomplish these objectives."

Meaning:

"We just saw how much potential Fusion actually has and we really just want to make more money.
So instead of delivering great sweetspot products, from now on we'll try to pull an Apple and suck as much money as we can from our potential customers. Even if that's means throwing the company in the sewers in the long run (we don't care, we just want more money).
So now Fusion is a premium product that will be sold at a premium price, for premium customers."

 

[mdm-adph]

They want innovation, excitemement and real competition. That is what brings profit.

I thought profit was what brought profit, and as long as the stock is making money, shareholders are happy. Is AMD's stock making money?

 

[wahdangun]

Meaning:

"We just saw how much potential Fusion actually has and we really just want to make more money.
So instead of delivering great sweetspot products, from now on we'll try to pull an Apple and suck as much money as we can from our potential customers. Even if that's means throwing the company in the sewers in the long run (we don't care, we just want more money).
So now Fusion is a premium product that will be sold at a premium price, for premium customers."

i hope that will not happen because

AMD's bread and butter has almost always been aggressively attacking the price-to-performance sector, and the chip maker's Brazos platform won't be an exception (for a refresher on Brazos/Fusion, see here). According to Fudzilla, AMD hopes to see Brazos-based platforms selling for $99.

In order to do that, AMD partners will have to pluck technologies off of their boards, things like USB 3.0 and higher end audio solutions, for example. While that means giving up a few amenities, the end result is you'll see some pretty inexpensive nettops and HTPCs built around Brazos.

maximumpc

 

[TheMailMan78]

I thought profit was what brought profit, and as long as the stock is making money, shareholders are happy. Is AMD's stock making money?

Not really. I have been a shareholder for a few years now. 14k wrapped up in this BS. As a shareholder I don't care how they make their money. I just want them to make enough so I can get mine back with profit. Anyway Paulieg innovation is nice. But profit is better.