Intel has announced that Pat Gelsinger has retired after 33 years at the company and three years as Chief Executive Officer. The chipmaker has already started its hunt for a replacement CEO but has appointed two senior leaders in his place in the interim.
Gelsinger leaves a rich legacy, starting as Intel’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Enterprise Group back in 1979. He became the company’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer in 2000 before taking a decade-long break to head up brands like Dell and VMware. He eventually rejoined as Intel’s CEO in February 2021, replacing Bob Swan.
Inheriting a struggling company, Gelsinger wrestled to try to regain Intel’s former glory, but met several setbacks during his three years in charge. It was already falling behind the AI boom as Nvidia’s grip tightened, but losing Chief Architect Raja Koduri set the brand on a path to play catch-up. Combine this with CPU instabilities and putting 100,000 jobs on the line, and it quickly became a game of damage control rather than growth.
Fortunately, Lunar Lake mobile chips mark a hopeful turning point, delivering on all its promises of efficiency and Gelsinger has set the stage for future. Investing billions in semiconductor sites, he says spending money now is critical to for future profit, even though he’ll no longer be at the tip of the spear to see production begin in 2027.
“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,” says Gelsinger in Intel’s 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. I am forever grateful for the many colleagues around the world who I have worked with as part of the Intel family.”
Intel’s board of directors has formed a search committee to find a permanent successor to Gelsinger, but there’s no telling how long this will take. In the meantime, Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus will tag-team the role to keep things ticking over, and independent chair Frank Yearly will assume interim executive chairman on Intel’s board in Gelsinger’s place.
“With Dave and MJ’s leadership, we will continue to act with urgency on our priorities: simplifying and strengthening our product portfolio and advancing our manufacturing and foundry capabilities while optimizing our operating expenses and capital,” explains Yearly. “We are working to create a leaner, simpler, more agile Intel.”
The sudden nature of Gelsinger’s departure is surprising, to say the least, particularly with Intel Battlemage graphics cards just a day away from announcement. Only time will tell how this shakes out.
