Gelsinger steps down at Intel

Intel is re-structuring its top management roles as Pat Gelsinger suddenly steps down.

Gelsinger retired and stepped down from the board of directors of Intel yesterday, and will be replaced by David Zinsner and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus, as interim co-chief executive officers while the board of directors conducts a search for a new CEO.

Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, will become interim executive chair during the transition.

Zinsner is executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Holthaus has been appointed to the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, a group that encompasses the company’s Client Computing Group (CCG), Data Centre and AI Group (DCAI) and Network and Edge Group (NEX).

This comes as the successor to the CTO role was announced last month. The leadership structure for the manufacturing arm of the company, Intel Foundry, remains unchanged.

Gelsinger returned to Intel in 2021 as the company was in need of a turn-around, but had struggled to achieve the targets needed to keep investors happy. This included proposals to sell off the Altera FPGA group and pausing its fab expansion plans, including its fab in Germany.

“Today is, of course, bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career,” said Gelsinger. “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.”

“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,” said Yeary.

“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.”

“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Pat for his many years of service and dedication to Intel across a long career in technology leadership. Pat spent his formative years at Intel, then returned at a critical time for the company in 2021. As a leader, Pat helped launch and revitalize process manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, while working tirelessly to drive innovation throughout the company,” he said.

“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. We are working to create a leaner, simpler, more agile Intel.”

Zinsner has more than 25 years of financial and operational experience in semiconductors, manufacturing and the technology industry, joining Intel in January 2022 from Micron Technology where he was executive vice president and CFO.