Renee James, the woman who orchestrated the 2010 nearly $8 billion deal to acquire McAfee, is leaving Intel Corp. as part of an organizational sweep by CEO Brian Krzanich
James was Intel president and she informed the board of directors that she plans to pursue an external CEO role in the industry starting in January of 2016.
James, in a memo to employees titled “My Decision to Leave Intel”, said “I have made the very difficult decision to step down as President of Intel in order to pursue an external CEO role. When Brian (Krzanich) and I were appointed to our current roles, I knew then that being the leader of a company was something that I desired as part of my own leadership journey. Now is the right time for me to take that next step.”
The James announcement was followed by the news that Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital, will retire from the company, also in January after a 35-year career with the company. President of Mergers and Acquisitions Wendell Brooks will take an expanded role to also become President of Intel Capital.
Hermann Eul and Mike Bell also plan to leave Intel.
Intel Communication and Devices Group GM Aicha Evans has been elevated to the company’s management committee, while Josh Walden, GM of Intel’s New Technology Group will lead all product and research teams. Walden has been tasked to spearhead the interactive computing devices, perceptual computing and wearable devices development for Intel.
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James spent 28 years at Intel and thanks Intel executives and employees for what she called the “best years of my professional life.”
She added that during her time at Intel she is proud of the progress made on diversity and inclusion. She said that Evans will replace her as the executive sponsor of the diversity program at Intel.