The world has lost a true technology legend after Andy Grove, the former CEO and chairman of Intel, passed away aged 79. Grove had suffered Parkinson’s disease, but the cause of death has not been made public at this point.
Grove was the first hire at Intel, having worked with Intel founder Gordon Moore (he of Moore’s law fame) at Fairchild Semiconductor. Grove joined Intel at its creation in 1968, and he subsequently became the firm’s president in 1979 and then CEO in 1987.
Intel payed tribute to the impact that Grove, who was born in Hungary and moved to the U.S. in the mid-1950s having survived Nazi occupation and Soviet control, had on its business in a blog post:
Grove played a critical role in the decision to move Intel’s focus from memory chips to microprocessors and led the firm’s transformation into a widely recognized consumer brand. Under his leadership, Intel produced the chips, including the 386 and Pentium, that helped usher in the PC era. The company also increased annual revenues from $1.9 billion to more than $26 billion.
“Andy approached corporate strategy and leadership in ways that continue to influence prominent thinkers and companies around the world,” said current Intel chairman Andy Bryant in a statement.
“He combined the analytic approach of a scientist with an ability to engage others in honest and deep conversation, which sustained Intel’s success over a period that saw the rise of the personal computer, the Internet and Silicon Valley,” Bryant added.
Gove wasn’t just a business pioneer, he also moved the needle as an author and a business strategy pioneer. Aside from his time with Intel, Grove wrote a number of critically acclaimed books on management, including ‘High Output Management’ and ‘Only the Paranoid Survive’, which remain current today more than a decade later.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Salesforce CEO Marc Benoiff and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella were among the many to pay tribute to Grove on Twitter:
Andy Grove was one of the giants of the technology world. He loved our country and epitomized America at its best. Rest in peace.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 22, 2016
Very sad to hear of the passing of the great Andy Grove, former CEO of @intel. A tremendous positive force on our industry community.
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) March 22, 2016
Saddened by the passing of Andy Grove…a pioneer, a leader and a
great teacher— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 22, 2016
I’m sad to hear that Andy Grove has died. I loved working with him. He was one of the great business leaders of the 20th century.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) March 22, 2016
RIP Andy Grove. The best company builder Silicon Valley has ever seen, and likely will ever see.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) March 22, 2016
Grove is survived by his wife, Eva, two daughters and eight grandchildren.
Featured Image: Intel Free Press/Flickr UNDER A CC BY-SA 2.0 LICENSE
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