Bruce Sewell, Intel's general counsel and a 14-year veteran of the company, will assume a similar post with Apple. Sewell was part of the internal reorganization announced by Intel that includes the departure of longtime executive Pat Gelsinger and a restructuring of Intel's business units.
Somewhat lost among the news of Intel's
internal reorganization and
the departure of longtime executive Pat Gelsinger for EMC Sept. 14 was
the fact that Bruce Sewell, Intel's general counsel, also left the
company.
On Sept. 15, Apple announced that Sewell will join that vendor in
the same capacity. Sewell, who will be Apple's general counsel and
senior vice president for legal and government affairs, will replace
Daniel Cooperman, who has been on the job for two years with Apple and
will retire at the end of September.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he was happy with the hiring of Sewell.
"With Bruce's extensive experience in litigation, securities and
intellectual property, we expect this to be a seamless transition,"
Jobs said in a statement.
Sewell had been with Intel since 1995, coming from a private law firm.
Sewell's departure comes at a time when Intel is in the midst of
various legal struggles around the globe. International regulators have
ruled against Intel in antitrust issues, the most significant being the
European Commission's
$1.45 billion fine of Intel in May for antitrust violations. Intel has appealed the fine.
Intel also is being investigated by federal regulators in the United States and the New York Attorney General's Office.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has been
critical of Intel's legal approach in such cases, and the group's
president and CEO, Ed Black, believes the departure of Sewell gives
Intel an opportunity to change the direction of that legal approach.
"Anti-competitive practices should cease, and on the legal front,
confrontation should be replaced with reconciliation," Black said in a
statement. "Intel is a company with a history and product line. It is
time to put its past mistakes behind it and get back to competing
vigorously, but legally, and on the merits of its products."
He lauded Intel for its history and standing in the industry, but said the chip maker needs to make some changes.
"Intel has been a tremendously important company in our industry,"
Black said. "But recently, it has repeatedly been found to have engaged
in illegal anti-competitive conduct. Clearly its business practices
have crossed the line and its legal strategy has not been working well.
This is an opportunity to press reset, comply with legal decisions and
move past a major distraction-both for the company and the industry."
Sewell's departure from Intel was part of a larger reorganization
and executive shakeup that saw Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and
general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, leave the company
for storage giant EMC, where he will be president and chief operating
officer of the Information Infrastructure Products group.
Intel also reorganized its businesses, including putting its major
product divisions-including PC and server chips-under a single umbrella
called the Intel Architecture Group.
The chip maker also separated out the manufacturing business into
its own unit, and promoted such executives as Sean Maloney and Dadi
Perlmutter.
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