CEO Grose, COO Chia Leaving GlobalFoundries
By David Lammers
Doug Grose, the CEO of GlobalFoundries since its inception in 2009, has resigned and will be replaced by an interim CEO from the company’s Abu Dhabi-based investors until a new leader can be recruited, the board of directors announced Thursday (June 16).
Also departing is chief operating officer Chia Song Hwee, who earlier served as the CEO of Chartered Semiconductor until it merged with GlobalFoundries in late 2009. He will remain with the foundry until August, the board said.
The management shakeup comes as GlobalFoundries ramps its 32/28 nanometer processes at the Dresden fab, while beginning tool installation at the new 300-mm fab in Malta, N.Y. The foundry seeks to hire more than a thousand workers a year for the next several years, and plans to build the first semiconductor fab in an Arab country, Fab 9 in Abu Dhabi, beginning next year.
Doug Grose
Grose, who earlier ran the manufacturing operations of both IBM and AMD, is being replaced by Ajit Manocha, an advisor to ATIC, now a subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company which owns more than 80 percent of GlobalFoundries. Manocha earlier held senior management positions at Spansion, NXP Semiconductors, where he was responsible for worldwide IC manufacturing, and AT&T Microelectronics. He began his career as a researcher at Bell Labs. He holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Delhi, and a master’s degree in physical chemistry from Kansas State University
GlobalFoundries executive chairman James Norling will lead the board search for a permanent CEO, the board announced. Norling earlier held the interim CEO position at Chartered in 2002, after senior management roles at Motorola’s semiconductor products sector, where he worked for three decades.
Ajit Manocha
A spokesman said the foundry’s vision has not changed. “We are still committed to our previously announced plans for capacity investment,” he said, noting that ATIC already has invested over $6 billion in GlobalFoundries to build the new 300-mm fab in New York, acquire AMD’s manufacturing operations in Dresden in March 2009, and to conclude the $3.2 billion merger with Chartered in December 2009.
“Through the end of 2012, ATIC will invest another approximately $6 billion in manufacturing capacity in Dresden, Singapore and New York, with initial construction to begin in Abu Dhabi,” the spokesman said.
Norling, as the executive chairman, will work with ATIC CEO Ibrahim Ajami, who will serve as vice chairman of the board of directors. Grose will serve as a senior advisor.
Norling said “customers are asking us for more capacity, faster technology delivery, and greater agility. The board intends for this new management team to meet those customer needs while improving operational performance.”
Ajami noted that GlobalFoundries “is in the middle of an intense, competitive ramp-up of manufacturing capacity and technology development.” He added that the foundry will continue to receive support from ATIC. “Under this new leadership team, investment in GlobalFoundries will double over the next 18 months.”
Chia Song-hwee
Norling said “Doug Grose and Chia Song Hwee formed the foundation of GlobalFoundries, bringing together the world’s leading-edge manufacturing technology with the heritage of a full-service foundry partner. This new leadership team will build on that foundation, as we increase investment in technology, capacity and talent while optimizing performance.”
Norling also said the executive search for a permanent CEO has already begun, adding that Manocha’s focus in the short-term is to continue the efficient ramp of capacity in Dresden and New York.
Tags: ATIC, GlobalFoundries
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