Intel President Renee James quit Thursday, a surprising exit by one of the chipmaker's top Oregon executives -- and one who had been a leading candidate to eventually become the chipmaker's next CEO.

Instead, James said she will stay on until January, then seek a chief executive job at another company.

"Intel has been my second family," James wrote in a message to employees. "It is an amazing company that has changed the way people live their lives, and I am proud to have contributed to that in a meaningful way."

The move was one of several management changes Intel announced Thursday. They signal a major shift at Intel, which had earlier cut its sales forecast for the year due to slow PC sales.

Under CEO Brian Krzanich, the chipmaker has worked hard trying to diversify beyond its core PC business but has been unable to get much traction in the fast-growing smartphone market and other emerging segments of new technology.

Other changes Thursday reflect that:

Arvind Sodhani

Intel executives

Aicha Evans

Intel's technology and manufacturing group, which had reported to James, will now report directly to Krzanich.

Last month, Intel laid off an unspecified number of employees across the company, part of a cost-saving plan triggered by the disappointing sales outlook.

Renee James

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Intel's stock was little changed on Thursday's news, rising 45 cents to $30.63.

In a regulatory filing, Intel said it will pay James $4 million to stay with the chipmaker until January. The company paid her more than $9 million in salary, stock awards and other compensation last year.

The manner of James' exit is unusual, said Kevin Krewell, a chip industry veteran who tracks Intel for Tirias Research. You don't often see top corporate executives declare they're looking for another job -- but not leave right away.

"If there really was hard feelings you'd think she'd be out a lot sooner," he said.

After two years on the job, Krzanich may be feeling more comfortable in the CEO role and relying less on James. Krewell said that could have accelerated James' timetable to seek her own CEO position.

"She's been bitten by the CEO bug and wants to be CEO and feels it's probably not going to happen at Intel anytime soon," Krewell said.

A University of Oregon graduate, James, 51, joined Intel in 1989 when the chipmaker acquired the tech company she was working for at the time. She spent four years as the top aide to legendary Intel CEO Andy Grove and then rose through Intel's leadership ranks as Grove and others touted her as a likely prospect to eventually take the CEO job herself.

As a manager, James evokes the hard-edge style of her mentor.

"Renee has an incredible ambition to do things and succeed and then do something harder and succeed," Grove once said. "It's a driving ambition and it makes her undertake high-risk things. And it's not that she doesn't worry about the bumps... But she takes them on."

When Intel went looking for a new CEO in 2013, James and Krzanich were both finalists. The board picked Krzanich, then chief operating officer, and one of his first moves was to promote James from Intel's software chief to company president.

In a 2014 interview, Krzanich explained that he and James pitched similar plans for Intel when each were seeking the top job, and ultimately chose to pool their efforts.

"Instead of fighting against each other let's fight against the outside guys. Let's team up, let's make this as good as we can. And then may the best person win," he said. "When I got through that (and won the CEO job) I decided: Who better to help you than the person who had the same vision and image?"

Over the past several months Intel has been a leader in the tech industry's drive to improve diversity within its ranks and James has been outspoken on the topic. Intel's work force and leadership ranks, like those at other technology companies, is overwhelmingly male. James' exit will complicate Intel's stated effort to improve diversity "at all levels" of the company.

Intel said it has 76 female vice presidents across the company, including Diane Bryant, the head of its highly profitable data center group; finance chief Leslie Culbertson, who works in Hillsboro; and Ann Kellerer, who oversees the company's global factory network.

Intel said James has not yet secured a position elsewhere, but as the No. 2 executive at one of the world's largest tech companies she could be a candidate for a wide range of openings.

And Krewell, the industry analyst, said it's possible she might end up back at Intel several years down the road if she finds a good CEO job and does well at it.

"The Intel corporate culture has a strong preference for people who know the inside of the company," he said.

This article has been updated with analyst comment and additional context on James' exit.

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway