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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.
He’d rejoined the company as CEO in February 2021, taking over from Bob Swan to turn around the already struggling chipmaker — an effort that hasn’t gone as planned. It’s largely missed out on the AI boom that fueled Nvidia’s rise, failed to launch new technology on schedule, and struggled with recent CPU instability issues.
Recent rumors suggested that Qualcomm was considering an acquisition of Intel. 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.”
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.”
