R.I.P.

Former Intel CEO Andy Grove Dead at 79

Led company for nearly 40 years.

Silicon Valley luminary and former Intel CEO Andy Grove died Monday, the company said. He was 79. Grove, who survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary during World War 2 and was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1997, was Intel’s first hire in 1968. The Hungarian-born executive was named president of Intel in 1979 and CEO in 1987. He remained Intel’s chairman until 2004. Grove, who Steve Jobs referred to as his mentor, played an instrumental role in shaping Intel into the most powerful chipmaker in the world. Tech leaders mourned Grove’s death on Twitter on Tuesday, with Marc Andreessen calling him, “the best company-builder Silicon Valley has ever seen, and likely will ever see.” Bill Gates tweeted Grove was “one of the great business leaders of the 20th century.”