Former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove, pioneer of the PC era, dies at 79

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Andrew Grove
Retired Intel executive and tech pioneer Andrew Grove has died at the age of 79. (Credit: Intel)

Andrew Grove – the Intel chairman and CEO who helped usher in the age of microprocessors, personal computers and the Internet – passed away today at the age of 79, the company said.

Intel said Grove played a critical role in the California-based company’s transition from memory chips to microprocessors like the 386 and the Pentium. Those chips greatly expanded the capability of personal computers, and contributed to Microsoft’s long-lasting primacy in the desktop market.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates paid tribute to Grove in a statement emailed to GeekWire:

“Andy Grove’s death is a huge loss for the computing industry and everyone who had the honor to know him. I feel lucky to have been one of those people. Andy and I got to collaborate on several projects, and I never stopped learning from him.  He was at the forefront of creating the personal computer industry and whenever we spent time together, I always came away impressed by his brilliance and vision. Melinda and I extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. I will miss him. But I will always remember his irrepressible optimism and sense of humor. Even on this sad day, when I think of Andy Grove, I smile.”

Microsoft’s other co-founder, Paul Allen, posted his tribute on Twitter:

In a company statement, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said he was “deeply saddened” by Grove’s passing. “Andy made the impossible happen, time and again, and inspired generations of technologists, entrepreneurs and business leaders,” he said.

Grove was born in 1936 as András Gróf in Budapest, Hungary, and survived Nazi occupation as well as Soviet-style repression. He left Hungary in 1956 and made his way to the United States, where he studied chemical engineering. After graduation, he was hired by Gordon Moore at Fairchild Semiconductor and rose to become assistant head of research and development.

When Moore and Robert Noyce left Fairchild to found Intel in 1968, Grove was their first hire.

Grove became Intel’s president in 1979, its CEO in 1987, and chairman and CEO in 1997. He relinquished the CEO titled in 1998 but remained chairman of the board until 2005. Under Grove’s leadership, Intel increased its annual revenues from $1.9 billion to more than $26 billion, the company said.

Grove shared his business acumen in a series of books including “High Output Management” (1983) and “Only the Paranoid Survive” (1995).

“Andy approached corporate strategy and leadership in ways that continue to influence prominent thinkers and companies around the world,” Intel Chairman Andy Bryant said 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.”

Grove was also a prominent philanthropist: He contributed $26 million to his alma mater, the City College of New York, to help establish the Grove School of Engineering. Grove also funded research into Parkinson’s disease, from which he suffered.

As news of Grove’s passing spread, the Twitter tributes kept rolling in:

https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/712075953803907072

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