New CEO Raghib Hussain looks forward to an independent Altera
Sept. 15, 2025 –
In his first round of media interviews since becoming CEO of Altera in May, Raghib Hussain laid out his strategic priorities for the newly independent FPGA maker.
“We need to fully focus on execution,” Hussain told EE Times. “For whatever reason, in the last 10 years, Altera has lost the trust in its excellence, quality, and schedule. I have a lot of experience [executing], the team I’m bringing has experience doing that, but it will take some time for us to prove that we can do it.”
Private equity firm Silver Lake owns a majority share (51%) in Altera, with Intel retaining the other 49%. Silver Lake acquiring the majority share means Altera is entirely independent from Intel, Hussain said, giving the company full control of itself. This level of control means the company can focus entirely on being an FPGA business.
Intel’s 49% stake is passive, so Intel does not influence Altera as a part-owner, Hussain said, noting that Intel is nevertheless an important customer and foundry partner (Altera’s foundry partners are TSMC and IFS).
“Independence gives us full freedom to choose any foundry,” Hussain said. “Our decision will be based on the latest process node that’s available, and which is the best foundry.”
Hussain is confident that Altera’s new private equity owners understand what they have gotten into.
“Silver Lake is not in a hurry to cash out,” Hussain said. “They understand FPGA is a long-cycle thing. They understand they have to stay for five years or more.”
Silver Lake has kept its investment in Broadcom for 20 years at this point, Hussain pointed out, and its Dell investment is more than 10 years old. The company was also a long-term investor in NXP...