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Intel on Monday announced the retirement of chief executive Pat Gelsinger, under whose leadership the legacy tech giant has faltered in the hypercompetitive semiconductor market, leading to a precipitous decline in its stock price.
Company shares climbed 4.6 percent in morning trading as investors reacted to the news. But the stock remains down more than 50 percent year-to-date, according to MarketWatch. During Gelsinger’s tenure, the value of Intel’s shares has fallen by more than half.
Gelsinger is also stepping down from the board of directors after four decades with the company. He became CEO in February 2021 and was tasked with cementing the company’s dominance in the semiconductor industry, but in the ensuing years, Intel has been eclipsed by giants such as Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing.
"Leading Intel has been the honor of my lifetime,” Gelsinger said in a statement Monday. "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.”
Intel’s chief financial officer, David Zinsner, and the head of products, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will serve as interim co-chief CEOs while the board searches for a permanent CEO, the company said Monday in a news release.
Once a tech industry powerhouse during the rise of personal computers, Intel’s dominance waned after it failed to capitalize on the emergence of smartphones and mobile devices in the early 2000s, and the company now trails significantly in the race to meet red-hot demand for chips for AI.
Intel’s drop-off was symbolized last month when it was replaced by hotshot chipmaker Nvidia after 25 years of trading on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
From 2020 to 2023, Intel’s revenue plunged by $24 billion. The company posted a loss exceeding $16.5 billion last quarter, the biggest in its history.
Intel has turned to cost-cutting as challenges mount, with Gelsinger announcing plans in August to slash the company’s workforce by about 15 percent - about 15,000 jobs - through layoffs and voluntary buyouts.
