Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers. Lisa Su's success in a male-dominated field is a living testament to the talent, will and outstanding vision of modern women.
From immigrant girl to "semiconductor queen"
Lisa Tzwu-Fang Su was born in 1969 in Taiwan (China). At the age of 3, she and her parents immigrated to the United States, starting a new life in New York.
From a young age, Lisa was encouraged by her father (a mathematician) and mother (an accountant and later a businesswoman) to study math and science . She said her father often challenged her to solve math problems right at the dinner table.
However, she was not initially interested in following in her father's footsteps. As a teenager, she dreamed of becoming a pianist. However, due to her lack of ability, she turned to engineering.
After graduating from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, she studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
Her educational journey was not only a solid foundation but also a stepping stone for her to enter the challenging world of technology.
Before becoming CEO of AMD, Lisa Su had an incredible career. She started at Texas Instruments, then joined IBM, where she led the development of silicon-on-insulator semiconductor technology and improved chip performance by replacing aluminum with copper—a game-changer in the microchip industry.
At Freescale Semiconductor, she served as Chief Technology Officer, shaping the networking and multimedia product development strategy.
Speaking to Time magazine, she admitted that her career has been quite lucky. “Every two years, I do something different.”
In 2012, Lisa Su joined AMD as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Business Unit. Just two years later, in October 2014, she was appointed CEO – becoming the first woman to lead the corporation since its founding in 1969.
At that time, AMD was facing a serious financial crisis, with its stock price at around $3 and the risk of bankruptcy looming. According to Time magazine, AMD had to cut 25% of its workforce.
However, with strategic vision and determination, she brought AMD from the brink of collapse to become a "giant" in the technology industry.
Under the leadership of Lisa Su, AMD has undergone a dramatic transformation. She is one of the few Fortune 500 CEOs with a Ph.D.
Her engineering background has helped her lead several technological innovations, including faster new CPUs for computers, that have brought success to AMD.
Since becoming CEO, she has laid out a three-part plan to help AMD compete with Intel and Nvidia: sell only high-quality products, build customer trust, and simplify operations.
The launch of the Ryzen and EPYC processor lines helped AMD regain market share from rival Intel, while affirming its position in the global technology race.
The pinnacle of success was AMD surpassing Intel in market capitalization and annual revenue in 2022. Also that year, she acquired Xilinx for $49 billion, expanding the company's technological capabilities and consolidating its leadership in high-performance computing.
Though she is still far behind Nvidia, she says success is measured in decades, not quarters. “Everything takes time,” she says.
To date, AMD shares have increased more than 30 times, raising its market capitalization to $160.41 billion. The female general's net worth has also increased sharply. Forbes magazine estimates her net worth at $1.3 billion as of April 2024.
Inspiring women globally
Lisa Su is not only a talented leader but also a great inspiration for women around the world, especially in the STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
As one of the few female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, she broke gender stereotypes and proved that women can absolutely shine in highly competitive industries.
Lisa Su’s contributions have been recognized with a series of awards, from Fortune’s “World’s Best Leaders” (2017) to the IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal (2021) – the first ever awarded to a woman. Her name is constantly appearing on lists of “the world’s most powerful women”.
Friends and colleagues describe her as “a shrewd strategist” who sometimes holds meetings on weekends and expects staff to work late into the night.
She believes that leadership is not innate, but is developed over time.
With that philosophy, Ms. Lisa Su constantly encourages the young generation, especially women, to pursue their passion in technology.
In 2021, she donated the prize money from receiving the Robert N. Noyce Medal – one of the most prestigious awards in the semiconductor industry – to the IEEE Women in Engineering Fund.
She also founded the Lisa Su Scholarship at MIT, which supports female graduate students in nanotechnology. These are all efforts to empower women.
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