Intel Names an M&A Boss as Startups Brace For Hard Times

Intel has announced that former AMD executive Matt Poirier has been named SVP of Corporate Development, reporting directly to CEO Pat Gelsinger.

The move, effective May 30, means that Poirer will lead the semiconductor chip maker’s team responsible for finding and executing strategic merger and acquisition opportunities.

Poirier, who started his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, brings over two decades of leadership, finance and corporate development expertise, including his most recent role as the SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at rival semiconductor firm AMD.

Before AMD, Poirier was the SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at programmable logic device manufacturer Xilinx. He also spent nearly a decade in technology investment banking covering the semiconductor industry.

“Matt is a dynamic and proven strategic leader who combines deep experience across all facets of corporate development with significant knowledge of the semiconductor industry,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a press release.

Intel’s newest hire will likely look to capitalize on a slowdown in venture capital funding to bolster the company’s technological capabilities and talent pool with innovations and acqui-hires from struggling startups.

In April 2022, venture funding totaled just $47 billion in April, the lowest amount invested in private companies in the past 12 months. This slowdown in capital combined with market pressures has led a wave of tech startups to conduct layoffs or even shut down entirely.

“For decades, Intel has played an essential role in the global technology ecosystem and is now embarking on a historic transformation that will improve its leadership position supporting customers and partners around the world,” Poirier said. “I’m excited to join Intel’s phenomenal leadership team and to partner with Pat and our board of directors to deliver significant long-term value for our shareholders as we advance our IDM 2.0 strategy and reshape the semiconductor industry.”

Intel debuted its integrated device manufacturing (IDM) 2.0 strategy in March 2021. The plan is an evolution of Intel’s original IDM model and Intel has earmarked $20 billion to build two new chipset manufacturing plants in Arizona. The company also created Intel Foundry Services with the goal of becoming a major provider of foundry capacity in both the U.S. and Europe and revealed plans for new research collaboration with IBM.

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