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In the run-up to the iPhone’s launch in 2007, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs made a fateful decision: Apple would not turn to its partner Intel to make chips for the device, on the grounds that the firm was “slow…like a steamship,” as Jobs put it.
Key facts
When Tan took the helm in March 2025, the longtime semiconductor veteran became Intel’s third CEO in six years, and the sixth since legendary cofounder Andy Grove relinquished the post in 1998
By Tan’s arrival, Intel had become defined less by its chips than by the $50 billion in debt it carried
This story ran in the June/July 2026 issue of Fortune as part of a feature called ‘Innovation Giants on the Rebound.’ For more Fortune 500 innovation stories
In the run-up to the iPhone’s launch in 2007, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs made a fateful decision: Apple would not turn to its partner Intel to make chips for the device, on the grounds that the firm
Summary
Jobs’ decision helped set off a two-decade decline for an iconic Silicon Valley brand. By early last year, it was unclear if Intel could remain a going concern. When Tan took the helm in March 2025, the longtime semiconductor veteran became Intel’s third CEO in six years, and the sixth since legendary cofounder Andy Grove relinquished the post in 1998. In response, Intel set about selling off noncore parts of the business and raising capital from what Zinsner describes as Tan’s “incredible network.