Israeli Johny Srouji reportedly in running for Intel CEO

Haifa native is a senior VP of hardware technologies at Apple and was responsible for setting up its R&D center in Israel; he has also previously worked for Intel

Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter

Apple's Johny Srouji (L) with President Reuven Riviin (Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Apple's Johny Srouji (L) with President Reuven Riviin (Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, is in the running to become US tech giant Intel Corp.’s new CEO, US news website Axios reported Tuesday. It did not say where it got the information.

Srouji, an Arab Israeli from Haifa, was responsible for setting up Apple’s R&D center in Israel, and has led Apple’s efforts into building a team of silicon and technology engineers, overseeing the development of new silicon and hardware technologies, including batteries, application processors, storage controllers and other chips, the Apple website says.

Before joining Apple, Srouji held senior positions at Intel and IBM in the area of processor development and design, the website says. He has degrees in Computer Science from Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology.

An Intel spokesman declined to comment.

Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich resigned from his post last year over a “past consensual relationship” with an employee that violated a company non-fraternization policy, the technology company said. Intel has been on the hunt for a new chief executive ever since.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported on Monday that Intel directors “have ruled out some candidates,” including Sanjay Jha, the former CEO of Motorola, and two former Intel executives, Anand Chandrasekher and Renee James.

According to Bloomberg, Intel chairman Andy Bryant told some employees that the firm may decide to go with a “non-traditional” candidate, indicating that a CEO from outside the company was a possibility.

If Srouji is appointed CEO at Intel, he won’t be the first Israeli to reach senior management at the chipmaker. Israel’s Dadi Perlmutter, a former senior executive at Intel, left the firm in 2014 after 34 years at the company, when he was passed over as its new CEO. Israel-born Amir Faintuch is also a senior VP at the firm in the US.

Most Popular
read more: