Hector Ruiz Steps Down as Globalfoundries’ Chairman

Last week, the Wall Street Journal broke a story that a previous AMD executive had a case filed against them as a result of insider-trading. The executive was revealed as Hector Ruiz, who first joined AMD in 2000 as President and CEO and resigned last summer. When AMD’s spin-off foundry company, Globalfoundries, came to be, Ruiz was named as the Chairman of the board of directors, and has held that position until today. Due to the timing, we have to assume that this decision is a result of the on-going investigation.

Although Ruiz is still technically an employee of Globalfoundries until January 4, 2010, his stepping down today was apparently voluntary, and approved by the board of directors. Interestingly, even though Ruiz is stepping down today, he had actually submitted his resignation in September, long before the inside-trading case came to light. The question of whether he saw the lawsuit coming is something only he could answer, but likely won’t. It’s important to note that as of right now, no charges are laid against Ruiz, and when or if they do, it wouldn’t happen for a little while.

Replacing Ruiz in the interim is Alan E. Ross, best known as a former CEO of Broadcom, but has also had high-level positions with Fairchild Semiconductor and Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, among others.

Ruiz’s stepping-down shouldn’t have much effect on Globalfoundries’ business, and by some opinions, chances of the company’s success should prove even greater with him gone. Whether that’s true or not is up to you to decide, but one thing’s for sure, Ruiz didn’t exactly have the best reputation when he was the CEO at AMD, and few would disagree that some major mistakes were made along the way.

Hector Ruiz, chairman of the GLOBALFOUNDRIES board of directors, will take a voluntary leave of absence effective immediately before resigning from the company in January, the company’s board announced today. Dr. Ruiz had submitted his resignation in September with an effective date of January 4th, 2010. He will be replaced by Alan E. “Lanny” Ross, who will serve as interim chairman, effective immediately, until a permanent chairman has been appointed by the board.