Intel’s CEO is out after only three years

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired after over four decades at the company and stepped down from the board of directors effective December 1st, 2024. A report from Bloomberg says that after meeting with the board to discuss Intel’s progress in catching up with Nvidia and regaining lost market share, Gelsinger “was given the option to retire or be removed, and chose to announce the end of his career at Intel.”

While recent rumors had suggested that Qualcomm was considering an acquisition of Intel, that prospect appears to have cooled. When asked about the potential deal on November 20th, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said the company has “not identified any large acquisition that is necessary.”

Following reports of issues affecting Intel’s next-generation 18A chipmaking process, Gelsinger announced in September that Intel would spin off its chipmaking business into a separate company while also pausing construction on the semiconductor factories it’s building in Poland and Germany. Intel recently received almost $8 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding to build factories in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon.

During a 2022 interview with Decoder, Gelsinger said, “Not only do we have to rebuild the internal culture and execution, but we also have to rebuild our customer’s confidence.” Intel has continued to struggle since Gelsinger’s return. Earlier this year, Intel revealed that its chipmaking business had $7 billion in operating losses in 2023, and the company decided to lay off over 15,000 workers in August as part of its plan to cut $10 billion in costs.

With Gelsinger out, Intel’s chief financial officer, David Zinsner, and Intel Products CEO, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will temporarily serve as co-CEOs while the board searches for a new leader. Frank Yeary, an independent chair on Intel’s board, will take on the role of interim executive chair.

“Leading Intel has been the honor of my lifetime — this group of people is among the best and the brightest in the business, and I’m honored to call each and every one a colleague,” Gelsinger said in the press release. “Today is, of course, 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.”

Update, December 2nd: Added information from Bloomberg.