At the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. CEO Lisa Su found herself in an awkward viral moment during a live Formula One grid walk — years before her chip company’s meteoric rise transformed it into a more than $665 billion semiconductor powerhouse.
Viral Formula One Moment Put Lisa Su In Unexpected Spotlight
During Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle’s pre-race grid walk in Shanghai, he approached Su — then attending as the head of one of Ferrari’s key sponsors — and asked, “Do you speak English?”
Su, who holds advanced engineering degrees from MIT and had already been leading AMD through a major turnaround, calmly replied, “Yes, I do.”
“I’m with AMD. We are sponsoring the Ferrari car,” Su said during the interview — a simple statement that, in hindsight, carried far more weight than many viewers realized.
Brundle appeared unaware he was speaking to the CEO of AMD. He had referred to her as his “random person.”
At the time, AMD had just announced a multiyear partnership with Scuderia Ferrari, with branding featured prominently on Ferrari’s Formula One cars and team assets.
AMD Stock Surge Under Lisa Su’s Leadership
Since that day in April 2018, AMD shares have surged nearly 4,000%, fueled by the company’s aggressive push into high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and data center chips.
AMD’s market capitalization has expanded from roughly $10 billion at the time of the incident to more than $665 billion today, cementing Su as one of the semiconductor industry’s most successful executives.
In 2020, the company also said that it had ended its Ferrari sponsorship. The chipmaker subsequently shifted its Formula One sponsorship to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team.
AMD Q1 Earnings Top Estimates As Revenue Surges 38%
Earlier this month, AMD posted first-quarter revenue of $10.25 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.37 per share, topping analyst estimates of $9.89 billion and $1.29 per share, respectively.
Revenue rose 38% year over year.
For the second quarter, AMD forecast revenue of about $11.2 billion, above estimates of $10.52 billion, with adjusted gross margin expected to improve to 56% from 55%.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo Courtesy: jamesonwu1972 on Shutterstock.com
Recent Comments