BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JANUARY 10, 2000 ISSUE
COVER STORY Texas Turnaround KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS Jump-started growth by focusing on key digital signal processing chip market Profits should more than triple in '99 to about $1.4 billion, on sales of $9.3 billion. Stock skyrocketed about 150% in 1999 to a recent $108 To look at him, you'd hardly peg THOMAS J. ENGIBOUS as an iconoclast. The stocky Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) chief executive, who despises neckties, blends right into a crowd of chip engineers. That's where he started his career. But his vision is far from modest: Since becoming CEO three years ago after the sudden death of predecessor Jerry R. Junkins, Engibous has reinvigorated the ailing electronics giant and turned it into one of the hottest plays in semiconductors. Credit Engibous, 46, for a daring strategy and skillful execution. When he took charge of venerable TI, it was a sprawling maker of chips, calculators, laptop PCs, military electronics, and engineering software. But revenues and profits peaked in 1995 at $11.4 billion and $1.1 billion respectively, and then started a sickening skid. Engibous, who joined TI in 1976 from grad school at Purdue University, engineered a turnaround by betting the company on an emerging class of chips known as digital signal processors (DSPs). The chips crunch vast streams of data for an array of digital gadgets, including modems and cellular phones. At the same time, Engibous shed billions of dollars worth of assets to focus on DSPs, which he calls ''the most important silicon technology of the next decade.'' His timing was impeccable. DSP sales could surge 32% in 2000, on top of a 25% gain in '99. TI now commands nearly half of the $4.4 billion global market for the most advanced DSPs, and it's the No. 1 chip supplier to the sizzling digital wireless phone market. But competition is heating up from Lucent and Intel, which will unleash a new DSP chip later this year. Engibous travels constantly and rises before 4 a.m. to stay in touch with customers and employees. An ardent sports fan who played hockey at Purdue, his speeches are laden with sports metaphors. And after coaching his two sons' soccer and baseball teams for years, he relishes his role as TI's head coach. His plain-spoken style and bold game plan are paying off big. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS INTRODUCTION MANAGERS TO WATCH THE TOP ENTREPRENEURS THE TOP 25 MANAGERS Minuro Arakawa Bernard Arnault Arthur Blank Peter Bijur Gordon Binder Steve Case John Chambers James Curvey Thierry Desmarest Bernie Ebbers Tom Engibous Chris Gent Irwin Jacobs Steve Jobs Mel Karmazin James Kelly Timothy Koogle Ken Lay Jenny Ming Thomas Siebel Masayoshi Son Martha Stewart Keiji Tachikawa Jack Welch Yun Jong Yong ONLINE EXTRAS TO BUSINESS WEEK INVESTOR INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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