How long was jerry sanders ceo of amd

If ever there were a manufacturing biography just begging to be turned into a movie script, it's the Jerry Sanders story.

Índice Show

Lessons Learned from Beating
'Least Likely to Succeed'
'A True Believer'
Rags-to-Riches

Sanders, the retired CEO of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) (IW 500/157), helped launch the company in 1969 and built it into one of the largest microprocessor manufacturers in the world. He is considered one of the founding fathers of Silicon Valley, and has a reputation for flamboyance and being fond of the finer things in life -- such as his Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Benton and Aston Martin.

But Sanders' journey to the top was a bit of a rollercoaster. He was raised by his paternal grandparents on the south side of Chicago. When Sanders was 18, he was beaten within inches of his life -- and given last rites at Little Company of Mary Hospital -- after standing up for a friend who was being pummeled by a group of thugs. (The friend took off.)

W.J. "Jerry" Sanders III, principal founder and retired CEO of Advanced Micro Devices

When Sanders went to work at Fairchild Semiconductor as a sales engineer, he thought he was on a track to become CEO. Instead, he was fired because of his brash, outspoken style.

Then, when Sanders helped launch AMD in 1969, Innovation Magazine dubbed it "the least likely to succeed of the technology startups of the 68-69 timeframe," he remembers.

Sanders, a 2010 IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame inductee, reflected on his life and career during a recent interview with IndustryWeek.

Lessons Learned from Beating

IW: What did you learn from being brutally beaten at that party when you were 18?

JS: I learned two things. One, don't count on other people -- not my favorite part of learning. And the second thing I learned was loyalty, because a neighbor threw me in the trunk of his car and got me to a hospital, so I survived. ... Today there's very little loyalty [in business]. There's a lot of jumping around, which is why I made sure that AMD was people-first. Because I knew that was the only way we were going to keep great employees from just taking a job up the street, because there are so many opportunities in Silicon Valley.

'Least Likely to Succeed'

IW: How did the Fairchild firing and the "least-likely-to-succeed" label affect you at such an early stage of your career?

JS: Actually, it just fired me up. I just wanted to prove them wrong. I'm a very competitive guy -- or at least they tell me I was, I like to think of myself as mellower now -- but in any event we went from being the least likely to succeed to being a Fortune 500 company, and the world's second-largest producer of microprocessors. And the microprocessor, that's arguably one of the most important inventions of the 20th century.

Legacy

IW: What is your legacy in semiconductor manufacturing?

JS: What I'd like to say there is I was the co-founder of the Semiconductor Industry Association, and the co-founder of the Semiconductor Research Corp. To me, my legacy is innovation. The fact that I was able to lead a company to become a major player is personally very rewarding -- no question about that -- financially as well as emotionally. But by having an association that can promote the wellbeing of this highly innovative industry -- that's what I'm proudest of.

'A True Believer'

IW: You have this reputation for being flamboyant. How do you view yourself?

JS: Exuberant. Excited. Enthusiastic. A true believer. There's no question that as engineers go, you'd have to classify me as flamboyant. I mean, engineers tend to be somewhat introverted, and not always the most adept in their social skills. ... And of course, what can I say? I probably dress better than the average bear.

Rags-to-Riches

IW: Your went from growing up in a tough Chicago neighborhood to becoming a legend in Silicon Valley. Your life is a rags-to-riches story, isn't it?

JS: My life has been sort of a chronicle of the American dream. Poor kid, oldest of 12 kids, divorced family, nearly beaten to death at 18, scholarship to [the University of Illinois], and on to captain of industry and now the Hall of Fame of IndustryWeek. It kind of blows me away, actually.

You must know or have ever heard of a company called AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). Inc., ya a semiconductor company’s second-largest maker of computer processors in the world after Intel. Products from AMD are microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors graphics card (GPU) and processors for servers, workstations and personal computers (PCs), and processor technologies for handheld devices, digital television, automobiles, game consoles, and other embedded systems applications . Company founder AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) is Jerry Sanders. He was born with a full name Walter Jeremiah Sanders III was born on September 12, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a scholarship from the Pullman railroad car company. He graduated with a degree in engineering in 1958.

After graduation he worked at Douglas Aircraft Company. He then moved to Motorola, then to Fairchild Semiconductor. He is known as one of the best sellers at Fairchild in the 1960s and is known for her style and compliment. In 1968 Sherman Fairchild brings a new management team in Fairchild Semiconductor, led by C. Lester Hogan, who at the time was vice president of Motorola. Male graduate of the University of Illinois in 1958 in Electrical Engineerig this, it is also critical thinking.

In 1969 a group of engineers Fairchild decided to start a new company, which is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They asked Jerrry Sander to join them, and he said he agreed, on condition that he be moved at the company’s president. Despite a lot of disagreement in the group, but they agreed and the new company formed by Sanders as President.

Sanders running style in his position as CEO of AMD. He remains the company’s expert salesman, always present in heavy negotiations and approach them. She likes to visit the office of Los Angeles near Hollywood. Sanders has always wanted to make money, but he also realized that the key to getting rich is to make people at AMD also get a lot of money too. At the end of the first quarter in which their firms generate $ 1 million, Sanders was standing at the door and give the company a piece of $ 100 to all employees when they leave the office. The whole pegawain the company get stock options, a major innovation at the time.

He also encouraged the company in difficult times. In 1974, when a severe recession occurred almost made the company bankrupt, but a sales contract with one of the distributors of the company to save the company. In 1982, he secured a licensing agreement with Intel which makes AMD a second source for IBM to Intel microprocessors series, a deal that ultimately makes the company the only real competitor to Intel. In 2000, Sanders took the Héctor Ruiz, who at the time was president of the production sector at Motorola, to serve as president and CEO of AMD, and a successor to lead the company at the time retirement Sander. Ruiz replace Sanders as CEO in 2002.

Source :
http://www.ib-article.com/2013/03/biography-jerry-sanders-company-founder.html

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