MW Intel ousts CEO Gelsinger with stock down 61% during his tenure
By Emily Bary
Intel is 'committed to restoring investor confidence,' its independent board chair says
Intel Corp. is making a change at the top with Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger out after less than four years.
The company announced Monday morning that Gelsinger has retired from Intel $(INTC)$ and stepped down from its board of directors, effective immediately.
Intel shares are up more than 4% in premarket trading Monday.
Gelsinger's exit from Intel caps a turbulent final stint at the chip company. He returned to Intel in 2021 and vowed to return the company to a position of manufacturing leadership. One of the cornerstones of his strategy was an expensive bet that Intel could again become a foundry business and make chips for other companies.
See also: After Intel's messy earnings report, this much is clear
Intel continues to rack up significant losses in its foundry business, with some on Wall Street doubtful that the move makes sense for the company. At the same time, Intel largely has missed out thus far on the artificial-intelligence trend. The company acknowledged earlier this year, while announcing sizable layoffs, that it didn't see its AI efforts financially manifest as expected, and more recently the company conceded that it wouldn't meet its mild AI revenue target for the year.
"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," Frank Yeary, the company's independent board chair, said in a release.
Shares of Intel have lost 61% over Gelsinger's tenure. The stock was booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA last month. Nvidia Corp. $(NVDA)$, which replaced Intel in the Dow, has seen its stock run up 824% since Gelsinger took over as Intel's CEO.
Read: Nvidia to replace Intel in the Dow, underscoring downfall of an industry titan
Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner will become a co-CEO as Intel's board looks for a replacement. So will Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who is also becoming the CEO of Intel's products unit, which is a newly created role.
"Today is, of course, bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career," Gelsinger said in a release.
-Emily Bary
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December 02, 2024 08:54 ET (13:54 GMT)
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