Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) has made a significant, and somewhat unexpected, management change and succession plan. The processing and graphics company announced that Rory Read has stepped down as president and chief executive officer. Read has also stepped down as member of the board of directors. What will stand out here is that the departure is effective immediately and that negotiations shown in the subsequent SEC filing indicate that negotiations are ongoing.

In the succession plan, AMD’s board of directors appointed Dr. Lisa Su as president and chief executive officer. Su will also be a member of the board of directors. Su joined AMD in 2012 and was most recently chief operating officer. She was responsible for integrating the company’s business units, sales, global operations and infrastructure enablement teams into what AMD called a single market-facing organization. While Su’s commentary was of thanks and appreciation, the ending point was on driving sustainable and profitable growth.

Read is 52 years old and Su is 44 years old. The AMD press release said that Rory Read will support the transition in an advisory role by remaining with the company through the end of 2014. What will be hard to differentiate here from many CEO departures is that no reason was given for Read’s departure. Again, negotiations are ongoing. Without knowing more detail as fact, we will just have to be patient in handing out a verdict on the departure.

For whatever this is worth, Read’s Glassdoor CEO Approval rating was 57%, based on 1,144 reviews, which was last updated on October 6, 2014.

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Investors will likely try to read into the implications of Read’s exit here. Maybe it means that sales were not tracking as expected. Maybe there were serious vision differences as far as the future of AMD. If history of unexpected CEO departures holds true, we should get at least some behind-the-scenes data in the coming days on the reasoning behind this succession plan that was announced on Wednesday. Until real details surface, there are too many potential reasons to speculate.

The subsequent SEC filing has a bit more detail, but even that is spotty. The 8-K filing said that Rory Read had stepped down as president, CEO, and board member. The filing further said:

The Board and Mr. Read are currently negotiating a Transition, Separation Agreement and Release. Effective immediately, Mr. Read will continue his employment with the Company in a non-executive role as an advisor through December 31, 2014, when his employment with the Company will end. Mr. Read will continue to receive the salary and benefits he currently receives during this period of time. … Dr. Su and the Board are currently negotiating the terms of an employment agreement. Dr. Su is currently paid an annual base salary of $650,000. Further details of Dr. Su’s compensation are set forth in the Company’s proxy statement for its Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Bruce Claflin, AMD’s chairman, said of the succession:

Leadership succession planning has been a joint effort between Rory and the board and we felt that Lisa’s expertise and proven leadership in the global semiconductor industry make this an ideal time for her to lead the company. The board looks forward to continuing to work with Lisa and the rest of the senior management team to build on the company’s momentum. I would also like to thank Rory for his many accomplishments and contributions positioning AMD for long-term success by helping to create a strong foundation and clear path to re-establish the company’s growth and profitability.

AMD did end with the note that over the past three years it has returned to non-GAAP profitability, materially diversified its business, lowered its operating expenses around 30%, maintained cash at (near an optimal level) of $1 billion, and that it has moved its debt further out the curve with no significant debt coming due until 2019.

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AMD shares have been relatively unresponsive to the move, after closing at $3.28 against a 52-week range of $3.04 to $4.80. Stay tuned.

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