He will leave the company on September 28 to pursue other opportunities

Sep 18, 2012 06:29 GMT  ·  By

Sunnyvale, California-based microprocessor and graphics product maker Advanced Micro Devices has begun searching for someone to replace the current senior vice president and chief financial officer.

This time around, the executive officer is leaving by his own initiative, not because of some decision on the part of the company board.

His name is Thomas Seifert and he is departing to seek out other opportunities, after serving with AMD for years and even acting as interim CEO in 2011.

No replacement has been decided upon yet, but Devinder Kumar, senior vice president and corporate controller, will fill the spot of chief financial officer until one is found.

“We thank Thomas for his many contributions to AMD and for serving as interim CEO in 2011,” said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO.

“Thomas’ personal commitment to the highest standards of accountability and financial integrity has helped define how AMD does business today. Devinder is an experienced financial executive whose financial expertise and semiconductor experience developed during his 28 year tenure at AMD is an asset to the company.”

Kumar has been with Advanced Micro Devices since 2001 and will take over on September 28, 2012, when Seifert leaves.

Speaking of which, it isn't all that clear why the man is departing, although AMD's announcement did go out of its way to mention that it isn't due to any disagreement over the company's accounting practices or principles, or financial statement disclosures.

In other words, this isn't one of those occasions where a high-ranking staff member was fired, and it might even lead to a promotion.

All we can say is that, now that AMD is changing its focus to include tablets and laptops, and putting the high-end CPU fight secondary, new leaders unfettered by views built under the previous business model are definitely required.