Intel manufacturing guru to retire

Sunlin Chou, one of the leaders of Intel's manufacturing group and the first employee at the company hired directly by Andy Grove, will retire in May, the company said. Chou, 58, has run a number of divisions at Intel since joining the company in 1971. Most recently, he has served as the co-general manager of the Technology and Manufacturing Group, which determines Intel's manufacturing processes. Several executives have said the manufacturing group is one of the principle reasons Intel has been able to dominate its segments of the chip industry.

No specific reason was given for the retirement, but Intel executives often leave after their age and years of employment at the company exceed 75 years. In those terms, Chou is in his 90s. He will be succeeded by longtime Intel exec Bill Holt, who will run the group with current co-general manager Bob Baker. Grove hired Chou and liked to point out that it was his first foray into personnel recruiting, according to sources at the company.