SAN JOSE, Calif., October. 12, 2006--KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) today announced the appointment of Ben Tsai to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. As a core member of the executive management team, Tsai will be responsible for setting the technology direction for the Company, overseeing product roadmaps and working with the executive management team on corporate strategy. Tsai will also play a prominent role in interfacing with the Company's customers and technical community. Tsai replaces Lance Glasser who will be staying on at the Company in an advisory capacity.

"I am very pleased to welcome Ben back to KLA-Tencor," said Rick Wallace, CEO of KLA-Tencor. "His more than twenty years experience at KLA-Tencor combined with his overall expertise in the global semiconductor equipment industry will be invaluable to the Company."
Before returning to KLA-Tencor, Tsai held the position of Senior Vice President, Technology at Tokyo Electron Limited. Previously, Tsai was Group Vice President, Chief Technology Officer of Systems at KLA-Tencor. He also held the position of General Manager for the Wafer Inspection Division. Prior to the KLA-Tencor merger, Tsai served in several positions with increasing responsibility at KLA Instruments including Chief Technology Officer and several executive positions in the Wafer Inspection Division. Tsai also spent two years as General Manager of Engineering for KLA Acrotec, a joint venture between KLA and Japan Energy. Tsai began his technical career in 1984 as a member of the technical staff at KLA Instruments.

Tsai holds over twenty patents in the areas of inspection and metrology. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the National Taiwan University and a master's degree and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

About KLA-Tencor: KLA-Tencor is the world leader in yield management and process control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company has sales and service offices around the world. An S&P 500 company, KLA-Tencor is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol KLAC. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at http://www.kla-tencor.com

Contact:
Meggan Powers
Director Corporate Communications