AMD Chooses A New Chairman

Normally, a company getting a new Chairman of the Board of Directors wouldn’t be much news. We tend to concentrate on more important positions like CEO or heads of specific departments. In this case, however, we’re making an exception because its AMD and where they are at. Longtime chairman Bruce Claflin is stepping down and to replace him, AMD has chosen John Caldwell, another current board member.

Claffin has been chairman since 2009, helping the company through the aftershock of the AMD/ATI merger, spinning off GlobalFoundries and the controversial Bulldozer architecture. The same period saw a number of CEOs come and go, with Hector Ruiz, Dirk Meyer, Rory Read and current CEO Lisa Su. New chairman John Caldwell is also a long time board member, having started since 2006, pretty much during the AMD/ATI merger.

While the CEO is in charge of the big strategic position and day to day activities, the chairman does play a role in setting the agenda by relaying shareholder demands. Given that AMD is about to turn over a new leaf with Polaris and Zen, perhaps this is the right time for a new chairman as the companies financials change for the better. Let’s hope the new changes help AMD continue to grow ahead of and during their upcoming launches.