Three AMD Top Brass Exit in C-Suite Purge

Written by DH Kass 1
January 13, 2015

Three top AMD executives, including chip boss John Byrne, have been shown the door in a C-suite purge as new chief executive Lisa Su tries to stem the company’s continuing losses.

Three top AMD (AMD) executives, including chip boss John Byrne, have been shown the door in a C-suite purge as new chief executive Lisa Su tries to stem the company’s continuing losses.

In addition to Byrne, AMD’s Computing and Graphics Business Group general manager and a seven-year company veteran, also departing are Colette LaForce, AMD chief marketing officer, and Raj Naik, AMD’s chief strategy officer, the chip maker said. At this point, AMD hasn’t said how it plans to fill LaForce’s and Naik’s former roles.

In an SEC filing, AMD said Byrne will stay on until March 31 to assist with the transition. For the time being, Su will take on his former duties until a replacement is found through an external search, AMD said.

AMD denied the three executives were fired, saying in a statement provided to Bloomberg, “These changes to the leadership team reporting into our CEO are a part of implementing an optimal organization design and leadership team to drive AMD’s future growth. They are leaving AMD to pursue new opportunities.”

AMD also disclosed that it awarded Devinder Kumar, its chief financial officer, and Mark Papermaster, its chief technical officer, restricted stock that vests in 2017 and 2018 as retention incentives.

Last October, AMD replaced Rory Read, its former fix-it chief executive who’d arrested the company’s losses and found new revenue sources, with Su, its highly regarded chief operating officer (COO) who took the company’s reins after handling its business groups, sales and global operations.

AMD subsequently posted worse-than-expected Q3 results with revenue of $1.43 billion, a 2 percent year-over-year decline, and net income of $17 million, or 2 cents a share, a 67 percent topple from the same time last year. On a non-GAAP basis, AMD reported net income of $20 million, or 3 cents a share for the quarter. AMD’s cash storehouse also took a hit, slipping to $938 million at the end of the quarter. Wall Street analysts expected the chip maker to turn in sales of $1.47 billion and 4 cents in non-GAAP per share earnings.

Su blamed “challenging market conditions” for the company’s poor performance. She reacted quickly to the down quarter, immediately announcing a 7 percent layoff to be completed by the end 2014 and a structural overhaul.