MINNEAPOLIS _ California-based Intel Corp. announced Tuesday that Omar Ishrak, the chief executive of medical device giant Medtronic, has been elected as lead independent chairman of the chip manufacturer.
Medtronic, which has operational headquarters in Fridley, Minn., announced last year that Ishrak intends to retire as the company's CEO in April. He becomes chairman at Intel effective immediately.
Ishrak's election came as Andy Bryant stepped down as chairman of the board, Intel said in a news release.
Bryant's career at Intel spanned more than three decades, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, adding that the executive told the board last March he wouldn't run for re-election in 2020. Bryant is expected to leave the board in May after a transition period.
Ishrak became CEO at Medtronic in 2011 and has been the company's eighth CEO, running an organization with $31 billion in annual sales, about 90,000 full-time employees and products used by 70 million patients annually. Medtronic employs about 10,000 people in Minnesota and is credited with helping spawn a vibrant cluster of medical device manufacturers in the Twin Cities.
