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Intel longtimer Pat Gelsinger rejoined the company as CEO in 2021 with ambitious plans to build factories that would help it compete with the likes of Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. But after a year that saw Intel’s stock dip by 52%, the board decided it was time for new leadership.
Gelsinger was given the choice to retire or be forced out, sources told Bloomberg. He chose the former option and stepped down on Dec. 1. CFO David Zinsner and EVP Michelle Johnston Holtaus will serve as co-CEOs until the board appoints a new chief executive.
Intel, once the country’s leading semiconductor manufacturer, stumbled after poor decisions made by Gelsinger’s predecessors, including passing on buying Nvidia and failing to secure a contract to make chips for Apple smartphones, CNBC reported.
Gelsinger attempted to turn things around by investing in new plants, including a $28 billion “mega fab” in Ohio that President Biden touted as a “field of dreams.” Gelsinger also secured around $20 billion in government grants and loans, much of it through the CHIPS and Science Act.
But the company’s still fallen far behind its competitors, particularly in the area of AI. “We don’t believe that Intel has the scale to pursue leading-edge manufacturing on its own given Intel’s absence from AI,” Chris Caso of Wolfe Research told Bloomberg.
In August, Intel saw its biggest stock decline in decades, losing around $32 billion in value in one day. It had announced plans to lay off around 15,000 people.
Now Gelsinger, too, is departing. “We know that we have much more work to do at the company,” board chair Frank Yeary said in a press release, noting that the company needs to regain investors’ trust. “We are working to create a leaner, simpler, more agile Intel,” he said.