Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger forced out in surprise move

The departure of Gelsinger, whose career spanned more than 40 years, underscores the turmoil at Intel.

Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger has been forced out less than four years after taking the helm of the company, handing control to two lieutenants as the faltering United States chipmaking icon searches for a permanent replacement.

Gelsinger resigned on December 1, according to a statement from the company on Monday. The resignation came after a board meeting last week during which directors felt Gelsinger’s costly and ambitious plan to turn Intel around was not working and the progress of change was not fast enough, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The board told Gelsinger he could retire or be removed, and he chose to step down, according to the source.

His departure comes well before the completion of his four-year roadmap to restore the company’s lead in making the fastest and smallest computer chips, a crown it lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which makes chips for Intel rivals such as Nvidia.

Under Gelsinger’s watch, Intel, which was founded in 1968 and for decades formed the bedrock of Silicon Valley’s global dominance in chips, has withered to a market value more than 30 times smaller than Nvidia, the leader in artificial intelligence chips.

Earlier this month, Nvidia replaced Intel on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Gelsinger, 63, has assured investors and US officials, who are subsidising Intel’s turnaround, that his manufacturing plans remain on track. The full results, however, will not be known until next year, when the company aims to bring a flagship laptop chip back into its factories.

Interim replacements

Two company executives, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will act as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a replacement for Gelsinger, who has also stepped down from the board, Intel said on Monday.

Gelsinger started at Intel in 1979 and was its first chief technology officer. He returned to the company as chief executive in 2021.

Gelsinger said in a statement that his exit was “bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career”.

“I can look back with pride at all that we have accomplished together. It has been a challenging year for all of us as we have made tough but necessary decisions to position Intel for the current market dynamics,” he said.

Zinsner is the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Intel. Holthaus was appointed to the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, which includes the client computing, data centre and AI groups.

Frank Yeary, the independent chair of Intel’s board, will become the interim executive chair.

“Pat spent his formative years at Intel, then returned at a critical time for the company in 2021,” Yeary said in a statement. “As a leader, Pat helped launch and revitalize process manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, while working tirelessly to drive innovation throughout the company.”

Gelsinger’s departure comes as Intel’s financial woes have been piling up. The company posted a $16.6bn loss and halted its dividend in the most recent quarter. Its shares have fallen by about 60 percent since he took over as CEO.

Gelsinger announced plans in August to slash 15 percent of Intel’s huge workforce – about 15,000 jobs – as part of cost-cutting efforts to save $10bn in 2025.

Unlike some rivals, Intel manufactures chips in addition to designing them. Under Gelsinger, the company has been working to build up its foundry business, making semiconductors in the US designed by other firms, in a bid to compete with rivals such as market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co or TSMC.

Intel has benefited from tens of billions of dollars that the administration of President Joe Biden has pledged to support the construction of US chip foundries and reduce reliance on Asian suppliers, which Washington sees as a security weakness.

After taking over as CEO, Gelsinger unveiled plans to build a $20bn chipmaking facility in central Ohio and poured billions more into expanding in Europe, where leaders were also worried about dependence on Asia.