Inside Intel

Book excerpt: Named one of the Best Business Books of 1997 by Business Week, Inside Intel is the gripping business saga of a company that rose to dominance through technological innovation, and maintained its leadership against competitors through aggressive marketing, tough business tactics, and liberal use of legal firepower.In his in-depth portrait of Intel, the first history/expose of the company, Financial Times columnist Tim Jackson reveals that:* Intel's corporate culture is determinedly secretive and authoritarian.* The company retains its own force of private investigators to prevent its employees from going astray.* Intel routinely uses the threat of lawsuits against workers and rivals.At the center of this story is Andy Grove, Intel's high-profile CEO and chairman, once a penniless immigrant who waited tables to put himself through college. It is Grove who has made the unpopular decisions which have kept Intel at the top of the chip market.Exhaustively researched from court records, unpublished documents, and interviews with Intel's competitors, partners, and past and present employees, Jackson traces the company's spectacular failures and successes, as well as the powerful human struggles that have made Intel one of the most competitive players in a high-stakes game.