Barrett, 62, who was paid US$1.68 million in salary and bonus and awarded 484,696 stock options last year, is now embarking on what may be his biggest challenge yet. He's got to build on Xeon's success with Itanium, a new design that doesn't run most software available today.
Itanium processes data in 64-bit pieces instead of PC-sized 32-bit chunks. It's the key to getting Intel into high-end servers that sell for millions of dollars each. Itaniums cost as much as US$4,227 each, compared with US$3,692 for Xeons and US$562 for Pentium 4.
Barrett has to persuade software developers to overhaul thousands of applications to make them compatible with Itanium.
Intel says 100 programs have been converted so far. Rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc plans a chip next year that runs both 32-bit and 64-bit software.
"It's a heck of a lot more than just throwing a piece of silicon out there," Barrett said.
He's put more than 1,000 people on software and tools for Itanium, and thousands more engineers designing the chips in Israel; DuPont, Washington; Santa Clara; and Jones Farm, Oregon.
Fewer than 1,000 servers shipped last year had Itanium chips, according to IDC, which predicts 8,000 will be sold in 2002.
Barrett will add to the company's arsenal this year with the second-generation Itanium, the one that impressed him so much.
"Your margins are better on the high-end area, but boy, that lifespan from high-end to commodity is shorter and shorter all the time," said Marian Kessler, whose Rutherford Investment Management owns Intel shares and manages US$100 million.
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