Craig Barrett

Two passions--the study of science and a love of the outdoors--formed the character of a man who rewrote the rules at Intel

By Steven Burke, ChannelWeb

9:00 AM EST Mon. Dec. 11, 2006
From the December 11, 2006 issue of CRN
Page 1 of 2

Craig Barrett inherited a lot from his Dad: a deep love for the outdoors, the silent communion with nature that comes from flyfishing and the wild magic that is born from the study of chemistry, math and science. And even though his Dad, who was a chemist at Shell Oil, was struck down by melanoma when Barrett was only 10, those early lessons stayed with him.

Slide Show: Craig Barrett

"My Dad got me interested in the outdoors, which is kind of why I wanted to be a forest ranger and also at the same time interested in chemistry, math and science," says the Intel chairman, who transformed the chip maker into a global behemoth by pioneering world-class modern chip manufacturing techniques in this country. "So even though he died when I was fairly young, he had already instilled that interest and enthusiasm."

Enthusiasm indeed. Barrett recalls getting his first chemistry set as a young boy, building thermite bombs and using nitrogen triodide as a practical joke contact- explosive on toilet seats, leaving an iodinelike stain upon unsuspecting bathroom-goers.

"Those were the days when you got a chemistry set for Christmas," says the 67-year-old San Carlos, Calif., native, who was born in San Francisco. "You didn't get a Gameboy or PlayStation."

If Barrett wasn't practicing his own particular mischievous craft of chemistry, he could be found fishing. Barrett's Dad, an avid flyfisherman, would take Craig and his brother fishing off Fisherman's Wharf after church on Sunday or flyfishing on getaways to the American River in Northern California.

Barrett's passion for flyfishing gave him a reprieve from his pressure-packed days as Intel's CEO during the biggest downturn in the brief history of computing. It also taught him a thing or two about how to vanquish Intel competitors. "The fish are looking upstream, and you want to come upon the fish from the backside so they don't see you," he says. "Maybe that is the primary rule of competition, which is always attack your competition from their blind spot."

That unyielding competitive instinct has left Intel rivals hanging from a fish hook and made Intel the undisputed world champion of the chip marketplace. The numbers Barrett put up as only Intel's fourth CEO speak for themselves. During his tenure, the company's sales shot up 55 percent from $25.1 billion in 1997 to $38.8 billion in 2005. And Intel's sales outside the United States soared to 81 percent of annual revenue, up from 56 percent when he took the helm.

Leading Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel during a treacherous industry downturn, the materials scientist who rewrote the rules for modern chip manufacturing made the big investments necessary for the company to continue to prosper well into the 21st century. While other industry CEOs heeded Wall Street's clamor for cuts, Barrett increased Intel's research and development spending from $2.3 billion, or 9 percent of sales, when he took the CEO job to $5.1 billion, or 13 percent of sales, when he handed the CEO reins to Paul Otellini in May 2005.

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