Intel Forces Out Gelsinger. What’s Next?
Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, has resigned. Who are the possible CEO candidates for Intel?
By Mark LaPedus
Pat Gelsinger, chief executive of Intel, has been forced out from the semiconductor company amid a series of losses, layoffs and product setbacks.
Gelsinger, who served as Intel’s chief executive from February 2021 to December 2024, has been replaced by two company executives on an interim basis. Intel has started a search for a permanent CEO (See below for a list of possible candidates). Going forward, Intel is expected to revamp its strategy, including the possible spinoff or sale of its loss-ridden foundry business.
In a release, Intel announced that Gelsinger retired and resigned from the board effective Dec. 1. But according to a report from Reuters, “the move to replace Gelsinger - who took charge of Intel less than four years ago - came after the board decided that the pace of his costly plan to turn around Intel's fortunes was not quick enough.”
Intel has named David Zinsner and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus as interim co-chief executives at Intel, while the board conducts a search for a new CEO. Zinsner, who joined Intel in 2022, is executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Along with her interim co-CEO role at Intel, Holthaus has also been appointed to the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, a group that encompasses the company’s Client Computing Group (CCG), Data Center and AI Group (DCAI) and the Network and Edge Group (NEX). Prior to being named CEO of Intel Products, she was executive vice president and general manager of CCG.
What went wrong?
These moves follow a tumultuous period for Intel. Prior to Gelsinger’s appointment as CEO in 2021, Intel was already in a shaky competitive position. The PC market was flat. In the high-margin processor market for servers, the company was losing ground to AMD. In addition, Intel fell behind in the process technology race against the likes of TSMC and Samsung.
After being named CEO, Gelsinger embarked on a new and ambitious strategy. In simple terms, the goal was to strengthen the company’s product lines and develop an AI chip strategy.
The other plan was to regain the leadership position in process technology. To accomplish that feat, Intel hoped to develop five processes in four years. As part of that effort, Intel re-entered the foundry business and began to announce a number of new fab projects. Anticipated sales from the foundry business were supposed to fill the new fabs and help fund the development of its next-generation processes.
That strategy failed to materialize. In fact, Gelsinger’s strategy was too ambitious, if not flawed. The company fell short of these goals, and it even lost ground in some cases.
Intel is still the leader in terms of market share in the PC and server processor businesses. But in the PC processor segment, Intel faces intense competition from AMD and Qualcomm. In addition, for its computer lines, Apple in recent times ditched Intel’s x86-based chips and developed its own processors.
Meanwhile, in the server processor market, Intel continues to lose ground to AMD. In addition, Intel has announced several AI chips, but the company has failed to gain any traction here. Nvidia continues to dominate this segment. AMD and others also compete here.
On top of that, Intel’s foundry business continues to lose money. There is ongoing speculation that Intel could spinoff or sell its foundry unit, dubbed Intel Foundry Services (IFS). “The departure of Mr. Gelsinger increases the possibility of INTC fully divesting IFS, which we would view positively,” said John Vinh, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, in a research note.
Besides IFS, Intel faces other challenges. Clearly, the company needs a new leader with a different strategy. Intel needs to shore up its server processor lines. And it also needs a new AI chip strategy.
Who is the next CEO?
Finding the right CEO might be the biggest challenge. “We think it may be challenging to find a replacement with the right experience and background, with the capacity to manage a complex organization such as INTC and able to effectively deal with the multitude of headwinds across IFS and IDM,” Vinh said.
So, who will be the next CEO at Intel? According to Reuters, Lip-Bu Tan is on the short list for the job. Tan is a former board member of Intel and is a seasoned executive.
In my estimation, here’s several other possible CEO candidates for Intel:
*Zinsner and Holthaus—If there is any noticeable improvement at Intel in the short term, Zinsner and Holthaus could move from interim co-CEOs to permanent co-CEOs.
*Stacy Smith—A possible CEO, at least for an interim period. Prior to his retirement in 2018, Smith spent nearly 30 years at Intel in a range of leadership roles. He rejoined Intel’s board in March 2024. He is also the executive chairman of Kioxia and the chair of Autodesk.
*Cristiano Amon—Amon is the president and chief executive of Qualcomm. At one time, there were rumors that Qualcomm was thinking about acquiring Intel. That’s an unlikely scenario. Nonetheless, Amon knows how to run a profitable and competitive company.
A slim to possible chance
There are other possible candidates, as well. These candidates have a ‘‘slim’’ chance of becoming CEO, including:
*Robert Swan—The former CEO and CFO of Intel kept the company’s house in order during his tenure.
*Jim Keller—In one possible scenario, Intel acquires Tenstorrent, an AI chip vendor. With the move, Intel gains some valuable AI technology. In addition, Keller, chief executive of Tenstorrent, becomes the new CEO of Intel. Prior to Tenstorrent, Keller was the senior vice president of silicon engineering at Intel.
*Keller and Thomas Caulfield—In another possible scenario, Intel splits the company into two parts—products group and foundry group. Intel buys Tenstorrent and Keller assumes control of Intel’s products group. Then, Caulfield, president and chief executive of GlobalFoundries (GF), joins Intel as the leader of its foundry group. Caulfield is a well-respected executive who understands the foundry and semiconductor businesses. That’s a remote scenario. It’s doubtful Caulfield would leave GF.
*Rick Tsai—Tsai is vice chairman and CEO of Taiwan’s Mediatek, a leading supplier of cellphone chipsets and other products. At one time, Tsai was the president and CEO of TSMC.
No chance
*Jensen Huang or Lisa Su—Huang is the CEO of Nvidia. Su is the CEO of AMD. I can’t see either of them going to Intel. Both are thriving at their respective companies.