The Chief Executive Officer of Intel Corp Pat Gelsinger has resigned after less than four years in the role, during which he failed to turn around the California-based company’s fortunes in the face of competition to its leadership of the computer chip market.
Intel said Gelsinger had retired effective 1 December after a 30-plus year career with the Silicon Valley company, which dominated the global chip market for four decades, and had stepped down from the board of directors.
Intel named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and CEO of Intel Products Michelle(MJ) Johnston Holthaus as interim Co-Chief Executive Officers while the Board searches for a new CEO.
Frank Yeary, independent Chair of the Intel Board, will become interim Executive Chair during transition period.
Yeary said Gilsenger helped launch and revitalise process manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, while working tirelessly to drive innovation throughout the company.
“While we have made significant progress in regaining manufacturing competitiveness and building the capabilities to be a world-class foundry, we know that we have much more work to do at the company and are committed to restoring investor confidence,” Yeary said in a statement.
“As a board, we know first and foremost that we must put our product group at the centre of all we do. Our customers demand this from us, and we will deliver for them.
“With MJ’s permanent elevation to CEO of Intel Products along with her interim co-CEO role of Intel, we are ensuring the product group will have the resources needed to deliver for our customers.
“Ultimately, returning to process leadership is central to product leadership, and we will remain focused on that mission while driving greater efficiency and improved profitability.”
Intel has lost market share in the central processing unit market to Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) in recent years.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shares closed at US$23.93 (A$36.81), down 12 cents (0.5%), after trading between $23.44 and $25.48, and giving the company a market capitalisation of $1.03 trillion.