Ruiz quits GlobalFoundries amid insider trading reports

GlobalFoundries has announced that Hector Ruiz will resign in the new year

Hector Ruiz, head of GlobalFoundries, and former chairman of AMD, has taken an immediate leave of absence from the company and will resign in the new year.

Ruiz was linked last week with the insider trading investigation currently underway into the Galleon Group hedge fund. GlobalFoundries, the chip-manufacturing arm of AMD, said that board member Alan Ross will serve as interim chairman.

Ruiz is the second senior executive linked to the investigation to suddenly step down. IBM announced on Friday that Bob Moffat, head of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, had retired from the company.

"Bob Moffat, who had been placed on a leave of absence as a result of a US federal investigation into his personal activities, is no longer an employee of IBM," said the message posted on an internal messaging board.

The ongoing investigation into the Galleon Group hedge fund over insider trading in technology stocks has caused a storm of interest in Silicon Valley. Six people have been indicted over allegations that they shared information used by the fund to manipulate the stock market.