Putting an end to a seven-month-long search, Intel Corporation (INTC) has announced that Robert “Bob” Swan, who was serving as the interim-CEO following the ouster of Brian Krzanich in June, will take up the top post permanently.

Image credit: Intel Corp

The 58-year-old executive has also been inducted into the Board of Directors. Swan, who has been serving as the chipmaker’s CFO since October 2016, has previously spent nine years as CFO of eBay Inc. (EBAY), where he is currently a director.

Intel is currently on the lookout for a new CFO. The company’s VP of finance, Todd Underwood, will serve as an interim finance chief till a permanent replacement is made.

Chairman Andy Bryant said, “We considered many outstanding executives and we concluded the best choice is Bob. Important in the board’s decision was the outstanding job Bob did as interim CEO for the past seven months, as reflected in Intel’s outstanding results in 2018.”

The appointment comes at a time when Intel is struggling to maintain its dominance in the semiconductor space, primarily due to the cut-throat competition offered by rivals including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA) and Micron Technology (MU).

INTC shares opened 2.5% in red on Thursday.

Krzanich, who served as Intel’s CEO from May 2013 to June 2018, was asked to step down after a probe revealed that he had a “consensual relationship” with an employee, which was against the company policy.

The announcement comes a week after the Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor firm reported mixed Q4 results.

In Q4, Intel earned $1.28 per share on revenue of $18.7 billion versus analysts’ earnings projection of $1.22 per share on revenue expectation of $19.01 billion. Intel stock had dropped about 7% immediately following the earnings announcement.

 

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