Andy Grove

Andy Grove survived both the Nazis and the Communists to become the quintessential American capitalist. Even more important, he is the best role model we have for doing business in the twenty-first century.

Any shortlist of the world’s most admired business people would include Andy Grove, the chairman and CEO of Intel in its years of explosive growth. During his career, Intel became the model for Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley became the model for the world. And Grove became Time’s Man of the Year—an icon of the promise of American life.

The simple facts of Grove’s career are the stuff of legend. Born in Hungary of Jewish origin in 1936, he survived the Holocaust only to face the Soviet invasion. He escaped to New York, penniless, at age twenty, and embraced America, transforming himself from András István Gróf into Andrew Stephen Grove. After putting himself through college and graduate school, he arrived in Silicon Valley at the perfect time for an ambitious young engineer. He joined Intel at its foundation in 1968, rose to CEO in 1987, then led the company into the stratosphere, with compound annual profit growth of 34 per cent for the next eleven years.

Despite decades of media scrutiny and six of Grove’s own books, there remains a powerful element of mystery around him. This definitive biography, by a Harvard Business School professor with unprecedented access, finally cracks the code of who Andy Grove really is, how his mind works, how he attacks impossible problems, and how he leads others to exceed their own expectation of themselves.

After extensive and meticulous research, Richard S. Tedlow has produced the most complete picture ever of this fascinating, colorful, often brilliant but sometimes maddening business genius.

The most consistent and important theme of Grove’s life is how he responds to change: boldly, quickly, with every scarp of his intelligence but no respect for conventional wisdom.

Tedlow, an acclaimed business historian, interviewed dozens of people and examined mountains of documents, with Grove’s total cooperation. Yet Grove exercised no editorial control and did not see even one page of the manuscript. This is an authorized biography that uniquely illuminates Grove’s life, Intel’s history, and the rise of Silicon Valley.

‘‘ ‘Andy is extremely smart and has a real mischievous streak in him. He’s looking for trouble, and that’s really good. That fuels his curiosity, his insatiable desire to understand things at a deeper level’ —Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple Computer, Inc.‘Andy Grove is everything Richard Tedlow describes in this definitive biography. Andy defines leadership in the modern age and Tedlow captures it perfectly’ —Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google, Inc.‘Andy recognized the future and helped make it happen. I have benefited from his insight and skills over the years as have millions of consumers throughout the world’ —Michael Dell, chairman, Dell, Inc.‘Like Astaire and Rogers, Lennon and McCartney, or Tracy and Hepburn, Grove and Tedlow are the perfect match. Tedlow is a master craftsman—great words, great wit. This book transcends the “learn from the successful CEO” genre just as Intel’s performance under Grove transcends the normal corporate landscape’ —Robert J. Dolan, dean, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan‘This page-turning drama, told by a master biographer, combines both the grand narrative and the fascinating details of Andy Grove’s life. Perhaps many already know that Grove is the greatest American business leader of his generation, but everyone will be enthralled by the twists, turns, surprises, and triumphs of Tedlow’s true story’ —Reed Hundt, former chairman, Federal Communications Commission; member of the Intel board of directors