Shares of Intel closed 14% higher on Thursday, as Wall Street cheered its decision to name former board member Lip-Bu Tan as CEO, who left in August over differences about the chipmaker's direction, after several years of market underperformance.

Wall Street welcomed the move by sending Intel’s shares up nearly 15 per cent this week. But the decision came after a deliberative process, with chair Frank Yeary saying the board had met with “many strong leaders” before settling on the Malaysia-born, Mandarin-speaking, MIT-educated executive — whose interest in the job was an open secret.