Lip-Bu Tan: From Nuclear Engineer to Intel’s CEO

0:00Jodi Shelton: Many great leaders command attention. Lip-Bu earns trust. He leads with humility, he listens more than he speaks, and when he does speak, people listen. Most people know Lip-Bu Tan today as the CEO of Intel, a company whose innovations helped create the modern computing era and whose future has become one of the most important stories in technology. But I think of Intel as one of the chapters of LitBoo's storied career. Long before Intel, LitBoo built an extraordinary career as one of Silicon Valley's most respected venture capitalists through Walden International, investing in entrepreneurs and technologies that would transform industries.

0:41Jodi Shelton: Later as the CEO of Cadence Design Systems, he led one of the most remarkable turnarounds in our industry, transforming the company into a global leader in electronic design automation and helping enable the AI revolution we're experiencing today. I've had the privilege of knowing Lit Buu for many years through the Global Semiconductor Alliance where he served on our board of directors during his time at Cadence and now serves again today as the CEO of Intel. I don't want to spend our time just talking about Intel. I want to understand the journey that shaped the man who was ultimately asked to lead one of the most iconic companies in the world.

1:17Jodi Shelton: This is A Bit Personal with Jodi.

1:26Jodi Shelton: Litbu, welcome to A Bit Personal with Jodi. I'm so honored to have you as my first guest of season two. Thank you. Yeah, it'll be fun. I promise. It'll be too painful. So, you know, I've had the opportunity of knowing you for many years. I was trying to figure out exactly when we met, but it's been at least 20 years maybe even longer it's sad to say it's longer and i've had the opportunity to observe you in the boardroom meetings with other ceos as well as several one-on-ones and i have a few observations that i would like you to comment on so so the first one is i mean you're a very gentle person both a gentle man and a gentle person you're quiet and you're extraordinarily reserved.

2:17And at the same time, you're this big risk taker,

2:21Jodi Shelton: you're out there funding companies, running businesses, making a lot of really, really tough decisions. So tell me about that side of Lit Bu that I don't get to see, the competitor, the tough boss, the ruthless operator. Where is that Lit Bu? I have a twin brother, I'm just joking. Maybe. Well, I think it's just my natural personality, brought up in Asia. I tend to be more quiet, and only when I need to speak, then I speak, and I make my point if I feel strongly. I just don't need to repeat or show off, but more quiet. and then if I see something that I can add value, then I will speak up. And then in terms of, in business, sometimes you need to have some tough decision you have to make and you have choices you have to do.

3:24And so you just have to go with your gut and then with your experience and then you just to address it in a respectful way. And so even if I need to fire people, you know in a lot of time in being a VC you have to replace some of the team members and you do it with respect and with caring and so some of the people I had to remove were still friends and in fact they starting to get back to me to be an investor and because they at least they respect my view and I explained why and so they understood the situation so I think you have to deal people with respect and then and then with you know three people with you know it's very important you know each one have we all have mistake we all have shortcoming but just do the right thing.

4:19Jodi Shelton: So you do you ever get angry does anyone ever see that side of you? I seldom get angry but I think if something that you know people betray or dishonest and I just have to correct it and then I just need to correct the facts and then it's very important to address that and not not in the very you know the kind of offensive way but at least state effects and then at least the other side understanding you know if there's any misunderstanding we just have to address it in the respectful way and be honest that's the best way. Okay so you're in this again I'm sure this is just also part of your personality but you're very chill very calm and you almost always say yes and maybe at least to me you always say yes you're good friends so i had to say yes to you and so i'm just thinking though that you know you have to be one of the busiest guys in silicon valley how is it that you get so much out of 24 hours in a day what's your secret good question i think you know my philosophy you know you have breakfast lunch and dinner and and then also you have 24 hours and the god is fair and then give everybody the same amount i wish i have more 48 hours a day and but you just have to squeeze in to become more effective and one thing good is i i i have a very you know in terms of technology i have a very fast switch okay i can switch from topic to the other topic very fast.

6:00And even my wife was surprised. Sometimes call coming in at 2 in the morning, I respond right away to the issue. And it just, you can shift from one subject to another subject and very thoroughly. And that's kind of my training. And I think in some ways it's a childhood day. I'm the youngest. You know, my mom, you know, my brother and sister are very disciplined they had to perform the best you know they have to get all the awards and then they have to you know the violin or piano to become performing you know meanwhile to keep the academic in all A's and then the youngest one you can get away with it and my mom is kind of tired and let me do whatever I want and in some ways kind of I build some hobby and like for example many people doesn't know I have more than 100 fighting fish.

7:03Jodi Shelton: Wow. And then I rank them every day. And then so in a way you kind of each one have a name and then and then keep growing and changing. And so in a way you know my mind I can can do things very fast and from one thing to the others. And I'm very good with numbers and people just can't lie with the number with me. And so I think with that is kind of my training. And so that, you know, I thanks to my mom to give me the freedom to do it. Okay, so let's talk about that. Because before you were the lit Bhutan of the CEO of Intel, or before Keynes or before any of your VC days, you were just a little boy in Malaysia.

7:45Jodi Shelton: So let's go back to that time period in your life. And so what kind of memories can you conjure up about what the Tan household was like. I mean, what were the smells? Were there music playing in the background? Was your mom home when you came home from school? Tell us what it was like. Well, I have one older brother and three older sister. I'm the youngest. Okay. And they are very high achiever. And then my brother is a role scholar and a heart surgeon and a PhD. And he do artificial heart. and my sister is professor at Harvard. So they are all very achievement and one, not besides just academic, is a concert performer.

8:32And so in some way, I grown up in that. The youngest, I think you just do what you like to do and so you don't have to compete with them. So in some way, I feel very comfortable to be the underdog and then be the youngest and then the naughty one that they all call me. And so in some way, you know, it's very comfortable for me, but it's a lot of pressure to perform. And my mom is very strict, a tiger mom. Even though I didn't finish my PhD, he sent my brother to check me out. And why is he not finished a PhD? And so in a way, it's kind of a nice family. And we are very competitive. And meanwhile, some of us are very close to each other.

9:18Jodi Shelton: So your parents must have set the expectations very high. I mean, people want to know the secret to your mom's success in raising such amazing children. Yes, she is very disciplined. And then she makes sure that we finish all of our plates empty before you can leave the table. So I still have that kind of discipline. And so I think, you know, it's good to have that kind of background that is very disciplined. So we kind of have that culture of, you know, do things right and the focus on what is assigned. You finish before you go to the next things. And so focus and the discipline and determinations of getting things done is part of our culture.

10:02Jodi Shelton: Okay. So it must have been a very musical family if you have performers. So was there always music playing in your house? Yes, and sometimes I still, initially I was a little bit annoyed when you try to do homework. And then my sister is playing piano and somehow always stuck in the particular notes. And then the other sister is singing opera, singing, and it's just a lot of music. And in some way I cannot miss that. I wish I finished my piano lesson but I was so interested in spider in fishing and basketball volleyball with my hobby and my mom let me do that and so in some way I'm very grateful for that freedom and then meanwhile in the music become very important in our life and that's why even though I cannot play and I on the board of San Francisco Opera for many years and we are still a big fan of opera and then in music and then so music is part of our life.

11:05Jodi Shelton: So are all of your siblings now in the US? One is in Cambridge, UK and then the others all in US. Yes. Okay so was it always the goal for for your mother to have you all come to the US or to to leave Malaysia? No I think it just encouraged us to pursue our interests especially educations and she's very few very strong and then so each one of us pursue our interests and then you know my brother originally physics then he enrolled to become a heart specialist and then heart surgeon so we each one pursue our own different things and then I decided not to be under my older brothers in the shadow and it sometimes is in the in the college.

11:59My professor said, well, you're great, but your brother is better. And so I don't like to stay in that path. I always compare to my brother. So I decided not to go to UK. I went to US. And then I wanted to do something completely different. That's why I pursued nuclear engineering. And I thought energy is a bigger problem, solving a problem. And rather than follow him on the medical field and so my older sister also moved into medical marine biologist and so we all pick different area that we can really strong and by the sister that closest to me you know she's languages linguistic you can speak fluent 15 languages and it's very amazing he's closest to me and so I think age wise and also hobby wise and so we kind of we all find our own way and then quite independent.

12:56Jodi Shelton: So what what would your siblings tell me that I would be surprised about you? Well I think initially they think that mom give me so much freedom so this one is this one is a naughty boy. Now when they were so young they really like me and but later on they felt that you know this boy is a naughty boy and mom gave him so much freedom and but over time and we become you know more respectful and usually in Chinese community the older siblings like brother and sister they take care of the grand father and mother when they get old okay and now that I think they care even though I'm the youngest so in some way I think they didn't expect me and I didn't finish my PhD and they thought that it would be just another goofing off kids and but surprise them I'm doing quite well in my area and then they starting to become much closer to me and be respectful of me.

14:01Jodi Shelton: Did you have your parents move over here to live with you? I invite them to come over and join me. Okay. And that would be wonderful for our grandkids. Okay, yes, I bet. So tell me about leaving Malaysia. So you were 19, you left to come to America. It sounds like maybe your siblings maybe had already paved the way for you. But it must have been a scary time. Or was it exciting? I mean, you even got more freedom if you could come over to America and leave home. So what was that journey like? In some ways, it's not that difficult. because my brother went to Cambridge, London, and then my three sister, they all came to US.

14:47And so it's kind of natural. The youngest one also come and follow them. And then in some way, I applied Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, and a few schools. Surprisingly, Berkeley and Stanford, they turned me down. But MIT accept me. and in fact my sister actually helped and the brother-in-law helped me to write my essay and then do all the application for me. And so in some way being younger, sometimes older brother and sister, they like to have you come along. And so I turned out to be very lucky to be able to come here. And to me, it's very exciting. It's natural because they all come up here, either here or UK.

15:33So it's kind of natural I had to do that rather than stay in Singapore. And I thought the energy is a bigger challenge. So I decided to, even though I have an offer to EE, but I thought energy is a problem. And I think I'm 30 years ahead of schedule. Now energy is a big problem. And so I thought that nuclear engineering is a way to go. And so I picked MIT for my nuclear engineering graduate school.

16:00Jodi Shelton: You know, I remember when I found out that you were a nuclear engineer. It was in 2011 at a GSA board meeting, and the Japan earthquake had just happened. And there were obviously damages to some of their nuclear facilities. And we were discussing it in the board meeting. You said, let me tell you what I know because I'm a nuclear engineer. And I was like, of course he's a nuclear engineer. I was like, you know, did you do this in your spare time almost? In fact, MIT tried to ask me because I'm on their advisory board and CEO advisory board. They asked me, Libu, I think you finished all the courses.

16:39Why don't you just come and pick a thesis, we finish it up so that you can get it done. I told him that I'm too old for that. And so they just said, well, in that case, we get you to be on the advisory board and helping us.

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17:45Jodi Shelton: Now let's get back to the episode. So how does a nuclear engineer get into semiconductors? It's very interesting to be candid with you because my mom and dad sent my brother and sister to the English stream and my mother decided, you know, for the youngest one they should learn Mandarin. And so I was in the Chinese school. so she always regretted that well sorry that I your English is not that good compared to your brother and sister and but I said no and it turned out that it's very helpful for me to do business in Asia in Singapore in Taiwan in China and so always a handicap because of my language to be candid with you the first master is MIT I don't think I'm gonna make it because the professor have such a strong accent i have not i don't pick up any words and then i also make a mistake and then every equation i try to derive it go to library to derive because physics training and finally one of the professor the lipo you don't have to derive every equation you just apply it and so so finally i managed to get through so to be candid with you i have three jobs at MIT.

19:10One, I'm doing my thesis for no scholarship. Secondly, I have a professor that dean, he gave me, he pitied me. So he said, I think you're a very good computer and good with mathematics. Why don't you work on my project? I pay you. So I got that. And then I also have a scholarship from Singapore. So I have three checks. And then when the bursar find out that I have three checks, they complain, said that every student only get one check. How can you get three checks? There must be something wrong. So you report, find out that later on, you know, they justify for me that I am working with one professor.

19:51And then the thesis professor, I suppose to finish the PhD with him, I help him to write the proposal to get the funding. So he did receive the funding. So he had, unfortunately, he had to pay me to do that. So long story short, that's how I learned how to do three, four things at the same time.

20:10Jodi Shelton: I was going to say, you even had three dropped in. I was trained at MIT. Okay, okay. So were you disappointed you didn't get in Berkeley and Stanford? I mean, you think your life would be different? No, actually. MIT is a great school. I really enjoy it and one of the best. And I think they're still number one in engineering. And then Berkeley, I think they somehow liked me. So very unusual, I'm one of the dean advisor for two, school of engineering and school of computer, compute data science and society. So I'm very unusual, I'm sitting on five different university advisory board for engineering and the school of, new school of compute.

20:51Jodi Shelton: So I don't think I know the story of how that you went, again, from MIT to VC funding. I mean, because that's, you know, again, that was the early part of your career. And by the way, it's remained throughout your entire career that you've been investing. So what was that leap like? Good question. So I didn't answer your first question, earlier question. So first of all, after the MIT, so I joined EDS Nuclear. And that's a nuclear analysis company. And then our biggest customer is Bechtel. And so with that, I worked through it. And they have a crisis. So I helped solving the crisis with the CEO.

21:35And then basically it's the design methodology we use. How do you assure your design is correct? So I had to spend six months, every day, every night, every weekend, to solve the problem of doing the statistic, the deviation, to prove to the vector that our design is correct. So in some way I saved the company. So the CEO very liked me a lot. So he basically worked in his office doing project management. And then one day three of the person come to me to buy me lunch. And I say, if we're talking about budget or schedule, we can just sit in the conference room. He said, no, no, no, we're going to take you for lunch talking about something else.

22:19So we did. And then basically they recruited me to do a startup. So this is my startup experience.

22:24Jodi Shelton: Okay. And then so I did that and then after I finished the tape art design and they said that by default we are all in the 50, you are early 20, by default you just be the CFO. So what did CFO do? They balanced the book. I said what book to balance? And Chang said I think you don't know anything about finance. I said no. So they sent me to University of San Francisco starting evening MBA class. Okay. Focus on finance. Then I become the CFO at night to balance the book. Wow. And then so that's my CFO experience. Then after I finished my MBA and then we sold the company that we started. What was the name of that company?

23:15Echo Energy.

23:17Jodi Shelton: Okay. And then so So with that, I tried to apply to the VC firm. I talked to about 12 VC firms. None of them gave me an offer. So I was very disappointed. So finally, I talked to Warden Capital, and I told them that you don't need to pay me. I will provide my own, and then just give me a space to work on. That's how I started Warden International. know. And then so I start my venture opportunity and then from three million friends of my family and my father-in-law give me money and that's how I get started. About three million I make a very good return and then that I build up to about five six billion under management.

24:06So that's kind of my warden history of venture.

24:08Jodi Shelton: Amazing, amazing. So and of course you're still investing today. So, you know, a lot of times people think of venture capital. They think, you know, as you were talking about on the finance side, you think of spreadsheets and you think of risk management. But really, venture capital comes down to being a people job. Yes. And you have just an amazingly privileged laboratory of studying human beings and, you know, being involved with thousands of founders. In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say that in a lot of ways, you probably saved the semiconductor industry because there was, what, 10 or 15 years of literally no one investing except Walden.

24:54Jodi Shelton: Yes. It's a pretty amazing accomplishment. So take me through what you're looking for when someone walks in the door. Because, I mean, is it technology first, the people second, or how do you look at it? Yeah, initially, I kind of focused on people. And it's very important you understanding their strength, their weaknesses, whether they have a team working together, and whether the honesty. And then some of the people, they try to cover their weaknesses. They brag a lot about their strength and not to be their weakness. So you just have to identify this, I call it signal and noise. And so focus on the signal.

25:43If you can find what is that person, is it coachable? Is it honest? He understanding what he's trying to do. Because every startup going through some near death situation, and whether they have the stamina to continue. and whether he built around himself strong team and rather than individual. And so I think those characteristics you look for, I mean, over time, I become very good in people judgment. I'm pretty good in due diligence. And even though people tell me how good they are, I have my way to do the reference check. And even though he gave me the references, I usually don't use. I have my way to, over the years, I have the experience and network.

26:28I'm able to identify and check whether this person is that good. Then later on, I started to learn a lot working with a tier one venture capitalist. It's very important to focus a market that is big. And then you have a chance to become the leader. And so I started to really focus on how big is the market? Who are the key customers that you need to have? So like in semiconductor investment, I always look at, is it technology? is really solving a real problem. How big is the problem? It's just 2x. Don't bother. You've got to at least see a 10x performance improvement. And then the other part is who are the customers that you can talk to willing to pay the price for the product or service that you provide.

27:16And then like in semiconductor, I always want to look for the hyperscale player and they can help scaling the company. and I work very close with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and they become very close friends of mine so that I know I can, one phone call away, I can check whether this is something that really they need. And then you can scale and then make sure the team can really execute and deliver the products. And so I think those are kind of what I'm looking for.

27:45Jodi Shelton: So what about today? I mean, like, what are the most interesting technologies that you're looking at today? Are you looking at quantum stuff? Yes, I invest in three quantum startups and they are doing very well. And one is INQ, it's already public listed, PSI Quantum, and I'm on the board. Victor Pan is the CEO, I love working with him. And then we also have a company called Classic in Israel. I was early investor in it. So I think the thing that I'm looking for is disruptive. Quantum computing is one. and I was very focused on high-speed connectivity. That's why I backed Cradle Semiconductor, Bill Brandon.

28:26I backed him. And then the other one is the four founders from Astella Lab. I was earlier, I went four of them, came out from TI, and backed together with Avictor. And so now it's focused on optical. So I invest in quite a few optical companies. Celestial AI we sold it to Marvell my good friend that Marvell met and then the other one is Dust Photonic in Israel we just sold it to Cradle Bill Brandon and so I think that high speed connectivity is very important quantum computing is very important then some of the cooling technology and emerging cooling microfluidic cooling I'm investing in microfluidic cooling area then the other part is how do you focus on some of the frontier model software?

29:18I invest quite a lot. And then basically those are the ones that are going to drive the AI growth. And then the other part is applying to the medical using AI. And then I invest quite a few. And that's one of the reasons I joined the UCSF board. And then so that I can be really, I funded three startups from the UCSF faculty. And so I think those kind of funds -

29:42Jodi Shelton: You call up your brother and ask him advice? Sometimes, in some other area. He's a specialist in the heart. Was there ever a company that got away from you that you didn't invest in, that you regret? Absolutely. We have a few that I wish I'd done that. So in some way, you're disappointed, but you move on. You win some, you lose some. And in some way, the venture capital business is very easy. You put$1, if you're successful, you make$10 or$100. If you lost, you lost$1. So the statistic so far, my trade record is quite good. I don't lose too many companies, less than 10%. And so just a little bit more on the people side.

30:27Jodi Shelton: So can you tell if you want to work with someone in the first five or 10 minutes of having a meeting with them? yeah usually before the meeting I done my homework okay I look at their background look at the resume people I know I can check so usually I like any meeting I always well prepare for the meeting because I respect of their time I don't go in in a big blank thing and no idea about what they what are my meetings I usually ask who are the people are meeting I would make sure that they send me at least a sketch of what they try to do, at least one page or some few slides. And then so I look into it, well prepared for the meeting.

31:12And so then I zoom in on the question I want to ask. And it can be half an hour, one hour. You don't have to go through all the slides. And then that's kind of my style, even my running company. And so with that, you pretty much know what you're going to meet. and then what you can, what you want to ask, and at the end you can make a decision whether you want to go with that or not.

31:38Jodi Shelton: Do you think that leaders are, that people are either born leaders or not born leaders, or do you think it's something that people can develop? I strongly believe people can develop. Give you an example, when I was at Cadence CEO and then one of my coach do the Maya Briggs and then initially the feedback is I'm ultra introvert. That's why you mentioned that I'm quiet and listen good listener out you know ultra introvert. After five years do the same test I become ultra extrovert so things can change you can develop. And so when I step up they asked me to step in to be a cadence CEO I have no CEO experience and but I decided you know seeing the company need that I jump on it I focus on it and eventually actually you know I still remember the HR director Tina he he gave me three books you know CEO for dummies I read all three I read three all three books okay and turned out to be good because I have opened my I listen to I make a mistake in the all-hands meeting.

32:55I said, well, I'm a first-time CEO, and then if you send me a great idea, send me an email, I will follow up. I receive every day a few hundred emails, and so I respond every single email. And some of them, I go and visit them, and they were very surprised. So in some way, being new, you have a very low bias. You decide to do what is best for the company, and you learn about the company and then you try to focus to be kind of with you. I don't know anything about EDA. So I learn a lot and some of them are so excited to be my teacher teaching me about all the different EDA tools. I'm a fast learner.

33:37Jodi Shelton: That's amazing. And then quickly I become expert and run the company and turn around. So same thing with Intel. You just have to put the hard work and I have to say nobody will work harder than me. And so in some way, you just earn their respect. And then sometimes you have some tough decision you have to make. And then they all know Lipu will do her homework. I'm asking them, let me sleep overnight. But it's not sleeping. I'm working on it. And then at the end of the day, I will make the decision. I get people to buy in with my decision. So I think that so far has worked for me. So with the turnaround like that you did at Cadence, it takes, you know, some really, really tough and very unpopular decisions.

34:26Jodi Shelton: What's the hardest decision you had to make there that you think made the biggest difference? Yeah, a couple of things. One, the hardest challenge is I live in Piedmont and driving to Santa Clara is one and a half hours each way. And I did it for 15 years. Wow. And so I think that is the most challenging one. And in fact, some of the customers are very respectful of my commitment. And then secondly, I think the hardest decision is try to change the culture. It's not that easy. And then unfortunately, sometimes you have to change some of the leadership. And it's not easy. And I usually want to do my homework.

35:11and then and to be candid with you the first few months actually first three weeks I have a hard time to sleep because I feel the burden of how many employees I have and I'm so afraid of making mistakes and a one person that gave me a very good advice and you know him quite well Mushi okay and then he used to be at Cadence then he become CEO of Xilin and then I reach out to him I asked him to come and join the board he said I can't but he's so generous every night spent two and a half hours with me go through all the detail of the organization on the field and then the most important part is the best advice he gave me, he said, Lippo, if you make 70 % of the decision right, you're a damn good CEO.

36:09And I told him that, wow, I think you just lightened my load. That meant that I can make decision. If I make mistake, it's okay.

36:17Jodi Shelton: You can be a C student. Yes. And that turned out to be, so I think a couple of people gave me some very good advice. When I finished my graduate school, I asked my professor, give me a parting advice. He said, keep your eye open and take calculated risks. That benefit me. And I take calculated risks to be a venture capitalist. I take calculated risks to be a CEO of Cadent. And I take a very big calculated risk to be an Intel CEO. And many of my friends told me, don't do it. It's impossible. And if I wondered, the friend, very close friend, even try to convince my wife don't let libu do it so in some way you know it's always good to you know keep your eye open take how cute at the risk and sometimes you may not know you just have to take a leap of faith and then and then jump on it and then do the best you can to do the best you turn around and that turned out to be very very helpful and then Moshe has been a great mentor to me and that advice So I think the most difficult decision is to make decisions.

37:28And I learned at Cadence, you're okay to make decisions as long as you don't end up.

37:35Jodi Shelton: This episode is brought to you by ASE, the leading global provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services. The future of compute will not be defined by silicon alone, but by advanced packaging innovation and manufacturing scale. That's the vision driving ASE's chiplet and heterogeneous integration solutions, scaling silicon breakthroughs into real-world performance across AI, HPC, and data centers. Learn more at ASE's website or follow ASE on LinkedIn and X, and be sure and watch our episode with Tian Wu, the CEO of ASE. You'll love it. So, you know, I was one of those people that absolutely questioned when you took the CEO job.

38:17Jodi Shelton: So I saw you maybe a few days after you took the job. We saw each other in Montana. Yes. And I asked you, LipBoo, why? You have this like spotless record in Silicon Valley. Everybody, everybody's on your side. Everybody loves LipBoo. And you're taking, you know, this job that, you know, people doubted that anyone could turn it around. So tell me what you told me then as why it was important enough to do it. Yeah, a very good friend of mine is an important customer of mine when I was Cadence. And he's a very good chip architect. And he wrote me a very nice text. I kept it. And he said, With all your success at Cadence, you have 150 plus IPO.

39:07You know, Intel is an iconic company. It's so important for the industry. and so important for United States. Before you retire, save Intel. That touched my heart. And so, and then I, of course, the most difficult one is talk to my wife. Five years ago, I had the finalist to be Intel CEO, and she told me, no. You have two, you just have a first grandson. You miss a lot of time with the two boys that you have. and then don't make the same mistake. So I took the advice, not the right time. And then five years later on, you know, I have so many friends come from Intel. And so it just feels very hard to see the company in this situation.

40:03So a very good friend of mine, he kind of, usually he's my customer. Usually I go to see him like every month and then to get an update on good and bad and ugly, what are the things that I fail. He came to my house for two hours. It's unusual. And he basically tell me, don't do it. But later on, he kind of sensed that I kind of leaned into taking on this role. And he wanted to just check with me. Lipo, knowing you, I just want to make sure that you got the objective right. First of all, you have enough money, you no need this. And I don't think you're in for money, and it's right. Lipo, knowing you, you're not power hungry, and you are always very humble and working to get the job done.

40:58I don't think you're in for power. Thirdly, you are so private and you are so humble and you don't need to have publicity and this company is going to have a lot of publicity. I don't think you need this. So he checked everything, just make sure that I have my objective right, I have the heart in the right place. And then at the end, he said, I think, I think, Lebo, you already make up your mind. You just go and do it. And so I think that's kind of, sometimes you have some good friend tell you don't do it, but at least make sure that you check out and your objective is right and pure. And I still remember that kind of conversation.

41:45It meant a lot to me.

41:46Jodi Shelton: So your wife must have ended up saying yes. My wife, you know, by the time I was on the board, you know, I was struggling because I know the problem, but I just can't do anything on the board. And a lot of email, a lot of text from former executives and current employees, and I can't sleep well. And my wife said, well, I think you should just resign from the board. So I did. Otherwise, not healthy for you. And then secondly, during this period, he said, Libu, I know you're so passionate about this company. you have my support. You may as well just do it. So that's why, you know, that's my last hurdle.

42:33Okay. And then if my wife say no, I still can't do it. Okay. And my wife say yes.

42:38Jodi Shelton: Okay. So what was that phone call like, that phone call of them offering you the job? I mean, was it a surprise to you, or did you know it was coming? Actually, it's not a phone call. Actually, it's face-to-face meeting. Okay. And then, of course, there's five months of conversation, discussion, when can you come over what condition we can give you to get you to come over and then what is your plan if you come over you get the job what are you going to do how are you going to turn around and that's the same question that President Trump asked me and then tell me how are you going to turn around and so I think it's good to have asking me those questions and it clarifies my decision and so nothing able to stop me to drive these changes with very pure decision to save the company.

43:36And that's my mission.

43:39Jodi Shelton: So prior to asking you how you were going to save the company, Trump made a public tweet that you shouldn't be the CEO. So what was that all about? And take us through when you heard it, how it affected you, and then how you made it right? Yeah, first of all, I'm very passionate. I used to invest a lot in the internet, in different business. And I decided semiconductor is the best return for me. And over the time, I've become specialized in the semiconductor through my EDA play, working with TSMC, working with a lot of leaders in semiconductor. so I become very strong in semiconductor. It's kind of every entrepreneur wanted to start up semiconductor.

44:30I'm the first one they knock on the door because they know that I add value. So with that, clearly I invest anywhere. I invest heavily in Israel. I invest in Taiwan. I invest in Singapore, India, and China. China is a big market. I also invest. But somehow people thought that, you know, that time was very popular you know you remember Silicon Valley Bank brought all the VC guys I used to be had the biggest market in the semiconductor but because everybody wanted to go to China it became very popular to invest in China so I was also investing in China and then now they feel that it's a conflict and because China became the biggest competitor and you know I'm not just only one there's other four or five big institutions, you know, the big venture capital firm, there are all being questioned.

45:25And so because one of that issue, I become conflict, and Intel is very strong with government, and then that definitely is a conflict. So that's why the president asked me to resign.

45:38Jodi Shelton: So someone just told him you had been a big investor in the Chinese semiconductor industry. Okay. Yes. So I think, long story short, he asked me to resign. That's Thursday morning. I got a lot of phone calls. And so I tried to, first of all, I usually have my routine. I go to swim and gym before I go to work. But this 5 o 'clock call, it kind of disrupts my whole routine. And so, first of all, I just tried to comfort myself. it's very unusual to have president ask you to resign and it's unheard of but anyway I took it well and secondly is most important is try to comfort myself that's not about me and I don't need this job and then if I'm not suitable and that's so be it and so I take myself out the equation then I figure out what is best I can do to do for Intel and it's not for protecting my job I don't need this job so I said I will let's focus on what is important for Intel so the first thing is to prepare for how we're going to communicate and then secondly the most important how to set up appointment okay and so there's a three or four people with our name they have been very helpful to me and and then to give me the coaching to even set up a meeting with President Trump.

47:09And I set up a meeting, and then Monday, 4 o 'clock, and then so I show up on Monday, and then I thank him. He listened to me. I explained the facts, and I never lived in China. I grew up in Singapore. I went to Singapore and then went to MIT, and then after that I've been U.S. citizen since that time is 40 plus years and he appreciated that. Then he was asking me about cadence design. So I shared the cadence design story and then he was very impressed how I turned it around. Then he was asking me, Lebo, you know, Intel had been the big bad situation. How are you going to turn around and how long did it take to turn around?

47:59So I shared him my strategy of how to turn around. And then I told him that it would take two years to turn it around and the changes I need to make. And he was very impressed. And then he asked me, do you like to have U.S. government to be a shareholder? And I said, I think it's a very good question. I did prepare for it. I said TSMC when they started, development fund from finance ministry, make the investment. I was at the same time with Morris. I was in Taiwan. They invite me to be on the venture investment. They invite Morris to E3 first. Then they start TSMC. So I'm together with Morris Chang for 40 plus years.

48:49And so I told him that, look, Taiwan government owned 48 % when it started. still are major shareholders. Singapore Chartered Semiconductor, Ho Ching and Chattamase, are big shareholders. And same thing with Japan. Government is a big shareholder. This is the infrastructure, just like road and traffic and all the breaches. US government got to support. And this is so important for US to have the manufacturing design. And those are not easy. You know, 1.8, 1.4, to less than one, and then. That geometry getting smaller and more and more complex, that got to be developing in the US. And Intel is the best platform, and I want to make it successful.

49:40And we're a close friend with TSMC. I'm still the top 10 customer of TSMC. We're going to continue working very closely together. and now it's very important US got to have our own like Japan have, Taiwan have, Korea have and I think he bought into it and then he decided okay now Monday afternoon, Friday I want to announce so you work out with Howard and Scott and then work out a deal that I want to announce So, four days I had to work really hard to work out a deal that win-win for the company, good for Intel, and good for the government. That's the story.

50:22Jodi Shelton: Yeah, it's a great one. Not very many people have been fired by the President of the United States before or asked to resign. I think it's a great story. People were very surprised in such a short time. Yeah, it is. It's amazing. So, you talked about your relationship with TSMC. So one of the things also that I've observed about you over the years is that partnerships is like the most important thing to you. I mean, everybody is your partner. Everybody is your friend. You believe in collaboration. And, you know, now there's so many not only intra-industry deals but also outside of the industry, a lot of partnerships.

51:03Jodi Shelton: So tell me what partnership means to you and why it's so important. And can you really be a partner with someone that you're sitting across the table, you don't know if they're going to be a competitor next year? Yeah, I think this is something is my personality. I never view people as competitors. Even when I like to win, you know, I'm a basketball player, I'm a volleyball college player. I like to win. But it's not a zero game sum in the business. So you always try to find, you can't do it all alone. you need partners and I always value partners so you know people were surprised you know when I started I reached out to Jensen our mutual friend people thought that he's my competitor and we become partner and he put 5 billion investing when I need it and we work up you know R &D development together simply people thought that you know Lisa Su is my competitor we are very close friends and And he bought three of my company when I invest in a venture investment.

52:12I invest, I sold three companies to her. And we are very good friends. And we serve on the board and, you know, at the SIA board. And then the other part, you know, people thought that TSMC is my biggest enemy and my competitor. It's not. And even Jensen, this CC way, and then joking in the dinner, VIP dinner, said that, you know, my VIP, my competitor sitting on my hit table. And I correct him, well, I'm not your competitor. We're a partner. And we're truly a partner. And then Morris, when he started, and I was with him, and then a lot of my fabulous design company, you know, in fact, recently I went to Computex.

52:55I went specifically have lunch with Morris and we have a wonderful lunch together and then I told him that what iconic and what legend you are if you don't build this foundry service business I cannot claim so many IPO I have and they are all fabulous company can you imagine every fabulous company had to build a fab, nobody's going to make money. And he contributes so much in the industry. That's why I have so much respect for him. And so we still keep a very close relationship with TSMC. And then I mentioned earlier, you know, I'm still the top 10 customer of TSMC. We're going to maintain that way.

53:43And really good. I mean, their service is world-class and how to serve some of the fabulous customer, include us, and they are the gold standard. And so a lot of respect and good news, and as Sisi will also feel the same way, he's at LiPo, I can't even build capacity enough to serve the customer with this AI boom. Love to see you successful in the foundry so that we all can serve the customer together. I say, well, I think we have a mutual understanding. Let's work together.

54:14Jodi Shelton: It just seems like a kinder, gentler industry. I think actually, I think Matt Murphy last year when we had our fireside, he mentioned that. And it's not the industry that we started in for sure with that kind of attitude. I think it's great. And in some way, I respect Jensen. He mentioned that he don't view people as a competitor. Right. He create his own market. And I try to do the same, create my own market, create my niche, and hopefully I can serve the customer better. At the end of the day, you serve our customers. This episode is brought to you by Maverick Silicon. So one last question on the business side, and then I want to turn to the more personal side.

54:54Jodi Shelton: But, you know, obviously, you've been in the job for a little less than two years, a lot of amazing accomplishments. I don't know, seven quarters of beating expectations, best growth rate in 15 years. You've done a lot in a short period of time. what's something that you're most proud of that maybe isn't something that's on a pitch deck? You know, most proud of the most encouragement for me. In fact, one of the friends that came over to check my motive, and he kind of gave me a very good advice. Libo, this is going to be a challenging job, the most difficult job in the industry. you have to find something that encourages you and gives you a smile.

55:44And then to be candid with you, the biggest encouragement I receive is customer want us to succeed. That means a lot to me. Even my competitor want me to succeed and chilling on. So I think that part is the most encouragement I have. And secondly, I think you know that I brought in some of the good talent, good leaders to come on board. They all want to see new intel successful. And that to me is a big encouragement that I don't have to carry the whole load myself. You know, I used to be the first few three months, I have 22 meetings a day. I broke my record. I have three dinner. Sometimes I have two breakfasts.

56:30And so time is on my side at the work. Now I'm a little bit back to normal. I know it's not sustainable. So now at least I can today, daily I have like 10, 12 meetings, but not 22. I only have one dinner and then I still have time with my wife to spend something they like to do.

56:47Jodi Shelton: So, okay, so let's switch over to that. What's it like when you walk in the house every evening? I mean, who are you when you walk in the house? Are you just husband, dad, grandfather? Or do you bring that kind of, I mean, I don't see you sort of bringing that title into your house of CEO. So first of all, you know, I very cherish for my wife, you know, Isa, and she's a big supporter for me. And we married this year, we'll be 45 years together. Okay, wow. And she's my best friend. And so I think she keep me grounded and make sure that, you know, when you come to the house, you're no more the CEO.

57:28I'm the CEO. Okay. So in a way, you know, it just keeps me relaxed and then be at home. and then secondly, you know, my two sons, I also get their permission to be doing the CEO job and they are very big supporters of me. And our grandkids, we have three grandsons and they are very happy and support me and so I still spend time with them to their soccer game and spend time to bring them to the Warrior game and then to the World Cup, you know. And so I think you just have to divide the time and then make sure that you take care, being a good husband, good father, and good grandfather. And then I think my two kids and my grandson, they don't view me as a CEO of Intel.

58:20It's just a person. And then they like, and tonight they invite me to go to their house for dinner and then with the grandkids. So we're delighted.

58:30Jodi Shelton: So the other thing that people may not know about you is that you've been an elder in your church in Berkeley for decades. So tell me about how important that role is. And maybe also that what do you think that Silicon Valley gets wrong about faith or vice versa? Good question. I grown up as a Christian family and go to church. I studied the Bible study very well. and I become face-to-face with Jesus when I was in the high school camp. And so it becomes a very important part of my life. And so it's a faith journey that you carry you through. We have the life journey from childhood to high school to college and become husband and wife, become parent and grandparent, and eventually everyone had to die.

59:32And everyone had the same 24 hours. It's just such a great comfort that you are not alone. And you have a mighty God with you. And that part gives you a lot of encouragement to carry the day. And the other part, you know, to be candid with you, you know, it's very important you just understand you only have one person as an audience. And you do your job and then the simple day-to-day job and be faithful in what you're called to do. And you just, you know, do it with choice and then you're accountable to one person only. And that gives you a lot of comfort in your daily life, in the challenging environment.

1:00:33And you have a companion. And it's real. And so in some way, what we do is just do your part. And I don't worry about the outcome. You don't have the burden. Even the quarterly earning, people feel so stressed out. Right. But for me, it's just a kind of checkpoint. But it's important to create value, enjoy the process of building, and then take good care of the customer, take good care of the employee, and then be honest to the people you deal with, and then live an honest life so that you can sleep at night very peacefully, and then you just carry out. Every morning you get excited to come here and then do something good for the industry, good for the employee, good for the customer, good for the shareholders.

1:01:33And I take shareholders very seriously. And I always make sure that everything we do is to create shareholder value. And that is a responsibility, number one shareholder responsibility for a CEO. And then at the end of the day, you just have to build. when I was captain in my basketball team, we were last when I took over. And then when we, at the end, I graduated, you know, we are champion. And so in a way, it kind of helped me to learn, you know, in fact, I was close talking to Shaquille O 'Neal. I talked to Stephen Curry. You just need to have a team that you can win championship. You can't do it alone.

1:02:15Jodi Shelton: Right. And so that, to me, is very important. and that's why I try to build a strong leadership team, share the same vision, and we work as one team to accomplish something great. Well, I think that that's a beautiful note to end on. So thank you for being my guest. I've learned things that I didn't know about you and it was very touching, very meaningful. So thank you, Lipu. Thank you.