The curious kid who became Intel's CEO
US-based Tan Lip-Bu, who made international headlines this year as the new CEO of Intel, one of the world’s leading chipmakers, has never forgotten his time in Singapore. He often looks back to where it all began: his formative years on the NTU campus.
Text: Wong SY
That remarkable journey, from curious campus kid to what Forbes once hailed as “the pioneer of Asian venture capital”, is a testament to one simple but powerful truth: the child shapes the man.
(Photo: Hillary Tan)
Of spiders, fish and curiosity
Mr Tan grew up in the heart of the NTU campus, where his mother worked as a hostel administrator. His early world was one of curiosity and competition: catching spiders, fishing in ponds, and caring for 150 fighting fish and 75 spiders – each one carefully named, ranked and trained. Far from a childhood eccentricity, this structured obsession revealed a methodical mind that would one day size up billion-dollar companies, analyse risk and back game-changing entrepreneurs.
Mr Tan with his mother, who was a hostel administrator on the NTU campus.
Mr Tan never lost sight of how his success story started. He reminisces: “My first success was entering NTU. I was nervous because I was placed on the waiting list for three months... I eventually got to sit for the entrance exam, in which I finished in the top two. That gave me a lot of confidence in what I could achieve.”
Never a classic bookworm, Mr Tan spent much of his time on the basketball and volleyball courts. A star basketballer, he once dreamt of going pro, but his mother had other plans. “Get yourself a proper job,” she insisted. It was advice that would change the course of his life.
Physics and a fork in the road
Graduating with a physics degree at just 19, Mr Tan earned a prestigious Lee Foundation scholarship to pursue nuclear engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). By 1983, he had completed his master's degree and was preparing to start a PhD, until a candid conversation changed everything.
“There is no future in nuclear engineering. Get out of here,” an MIT professor bluntly advised, citing the chilling aftermath of the Three Mile Island disaster. Taking that advice to heart, Mr Tan became an engineering project manager in San Francisco, and earned an MBA on the side. This new trajectory blended technical depth with financial savvy and laid the foundation for his future in venture capital.
Love and a touch of chaos
Amidst this professional transformation, Mr Tan also found love, getting married in San Francisco to his Malaysian-born wife, then a mortgage banker three years his senior. Grinning at the memory, he says: “I proposed multiple times and was rejected at least 10 times. It was a great relief when she finally said yes.”
At their wedding, when she didn’t show up on time, Mr Tan feared the worst. Turns out her brother had simply forgotten to pick her up from the hotel.
This is why he insists he is not a master planner. He went through life picking the right options when opportunities arose.
From startup whisperer to Silicon Valley star
In 1987, Mr Tan founded Walden International, a venture capital firm that grew from US$20 million to US$2 billion in just four years. His first investor? Singapore Technologies (ST). His first client? The late Sim Wong Hoo, founder of Creative Technology.
When Mr Sim showed up at a critical Goldman Sachs meeting in New York wearing scruffy shoes and white socks, Mr Tan promptly whisked him off to Fifth Avenue for a wardrobe upgrade. The former spider breeder, nuclear engineer-in-training and basketball star had, unexpectedly, become a fashion consultant.
But this multitasking ethos is Tan’s hallmark. “I’ve always seen myself as adaptable. You do what’s needed.”
Cadence to Intel: a tech titan rises
From 2009 to 2023, Mr Tan served first as CEO, then as chairman of Cadence Design Systems, where he led a dramatic transformation: revenues doubled, and the company’s stock price surged 32-fold. It was at Cadence that he deepened his involvement in semiconductors, paving the way to Intel.
When Intel announced in March 2025 that Mr Tan would become CEO, the company’s stock jumped 10% overnight, a clear vote of confidence from the market.
In an industry not short on ego, Mr Tan stands out for his humility and team-first approach – lessons he learnt on the basketball court. “The end result matters, but I’ve always loved the process of winning as a team.”
Giving back to Singapore
His mother was a strong influence in his life and her final words left a deep impression: “Give something back to Singapore for what it has done for you.”
And give he did.
In 2024, Mr Tan donated S$3 million to NTU to establish an eponymous professorship in artificial intelligence (AI). That same year, his firm, Walden International, seeded NTU’s S$50 million Nanyang Frontier Fund, Singapore’s first venture capital fund dedicated to a university’s startups, with a S$5 million investment. NTU matched it with another S$5 million. Mr Tan had earlier served as an NTU trustee from 2006 to 2011.
At the launch of NTU’s Nanyang Frontier Fund, Singapore’s first venture capital fund dedicated to a university’s startups: (from left) NTU Vice President (Innovation & Entrepreneurship) Prof Louis Phee; Mr Tan; then Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat; NTU Board Chair Ms Goh Swee Chen; and NTU President Prof Ho Teck Hua.
His fondness for NTU and for Singapore was never in doubt. Even today, he continues to express gratitude towards former ST CEO Ho Ching and former Economic Development Board chairman Philip Yeo for the faith that ST placed in him in investing in Walden. He also remains thankful to the Lee Foundation for sponsoring his MIT education.
Beyond putting his Midas touch to startups, Mr Tan and his wife have been pursuing humanitarian work around the world, from helping the homeless in San Francisco to supporting marginalised communities in India.
When asked to sum up his life philosophy, Mr Tan doesn’t reach for grand slogans. Instead, he recalls a simple lesson from his mother: “If your boss gives you a small task and you do it well, then he will give you a big task.”
For Tan Lip-Bu, that small task started on the NTU campus – with fish, spiders and a dream.
He’s been choosing the right options ever since.
This article first appeared in issue 6 of U, the NTU alumni magazine.
