Texas Instruments (TI) has announced that its CEO, Rich Templeton, will step down from his position after leading the company for over 15 years. Templeton will remain as chairman of the board. COO Haviv Ilan, a 24-year veteran at TI, will take over as CEO.

During his tenure, Templeton guided TI through a major shift in focus, pulling the company out of the telecommunications industry and instead focusing on analog technology. This decision proved to be a success for the company, as Templeton’s strategic acquisitions of cheap fab equipment and three inexpensive fabs in Chengdu, China and Aizu, Japan in 2009 and 2010, gave TI a market advantage in analog processing, particularly on 300mm wafers.

Templeton first stepped down as CEO in 2018, but returned to the role six weeks later after the resignation of his successor, Brian Crutcher. Under his leadership, TI has grown to become one of the leading companies in the analog technology industry