Who's Intel Inside And Outside Today: PC Chip Boss Installed After EVP Heads For Exit – Plus Next CFO Named

Intel today announced a new showrunner for its PC processor business and named its next chief financial officer, who is arriving from Micron.

Gregory Bryant, who as an executive vice-president ran Intel's Client Computing Group, is leaving at the end of this month to pursue "a new opportunity," the chip giant said.

Bryant, who just oversaw Chipzilla's CES launches, will be replaced by Michelle Johnston Holthaus. Her title will be executive vice president and general manager of the client division, which focuses on components for personal computers and other consumer electronics.

“I am thrilled to take on leadership of Intel’s Client Computing Group,” Holthaus said in a canned statement. “We have a tremendous opportunity to build on past successes – and even accelerate our pace as we continue to enable our customers and partners to elevate PC experiences.”

Holthaus has spent 25 years at Intel, and previously was the general manager of its Sales, Marketing and Communications division, a position she attained after managing global sales for the Client Computing Group. Holthaus's top priority will likely involve heating up Intel's rivalry with x86-slinging AMD and well-Arm'd Apple. Intel's once-dominant PC market share is crumbling with rivals siphoning away buyers with competitive offerings.

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Intel is adding some much-needed diversity to its leadership with Holthaus, and the move also pushes her up in pecking order of candidates to succeed CEO Pat Gelsinger if he ever leaves, which likely won't happen soon given Intel's return to a deep engineering focus. The last sales and marketing exec at Intel to become CEO was Paul Otellini, who died in 2017.

The chip behemoth also appointed as chief financial officer David Zinsner, who has resigned as Micron's CFO. Zinsner last week talked about Micron's plans to reopen its DRAM assembly and testing in Xi'an, China.

On January 17, Zinsner will replace today's Intel CFO George Davis, who earlier announced his intention to retire in 2022. Davis will stay on as an advisor until May. Zinsner's appointment is an interesting one given the history and breakup between Micron and Intel over 3D XPoint memory technology. ®