After 8 months without a CEO, AMD has finally made a choice and allowed Thomas Seifert to step back into the role of Senior VP and CFO, which he has stated was his preferred role in the company.  The new CEO is Rory Read, who comes from the role of COO and President of Lenovo, the company made famous by taking over IBM’s hardware business at the end of 1994 for $1.75 billion.   Rory presided over Lenovo for the past year and was with the company in other roles for a period of 5 years, following a 23 year career at IBM.  The 2009-2010 year for Lenovo has seen growth that took them to acquire their largest share of the PC market ever, a fact which should reassure anyone worried about his management abilities.

Lenovo is an odd beast, with their teeth further into the design process than some of their competitors.  Those familiar with ThinkPads may have encountered the pricing of replacement parts, as in some cases a generic part will not fit.  The same goes for ThinkCenters and their obnoxiously proprietary PSUs.  That does not mean that he will bring that type of philosophy with him to AMD; it belongs to a system retailer not a hardware manufacturer.  Instead try and focus on the fact that while running a company that is targeted at a niche market, he shoved the competition to the side and took his company further than it ever had been.

Also, some guy in a turtleneck side stepped from CEO to chairman.

"SUNNYVALE, CA, Aug 25, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Rory P. Read, 49, President and Chief Executive Officer of AMD, effective today. Mr. Read has also been appointed to the Company’s board of directors.

Read joins AMD from Lenovo Group, Ltd., where he was most recently President and Chief Operating Officer responsible for leading day-to-day global operations while overseeing the development and implementation of the company’s growth strategy."

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