Pat Gelsinger, the most recent CEO of tech giant Intel, has officially stepped down from his current role and from the company's board of directors. This is according to Intel's latest announcement, with the move effective immediately. Gelsinger, who boasts a 40-year career spanning roles in the technology sector, departed the company amidst continued struggles of the US-based chip maker to keep up with the competition with other chip makers globally.
In a recent media release, Intel announced that two senior leaders, David Zinsner and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus, have been named interim co-chief executive officers while the board of directors searches for a new CEO.
"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. I am forever grateful for the many colleagues around the world who I have worked with as part of the Intel family," Gelsinger said.
Gelsinger's Journey In The Tech Space
His journey to Intel began in 1979 at 18 years old when he received his associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute and moved to Silicon Valley to start his career at Intel as a quality control technician. When Intel introduced the 386 microprocessor to the public in 1985, he was the fourth design engineer for said project.
By 1992, four years after Intel released the 486 process, Gelsinger was named the vice president of the Intel Products Group and general manager of the personal computer enhancement division in the business communications division. At that time, he was the company's youngest vice president, at 32.
Following that, he was named Intel's general manager of the desktop products group in 1996 and the company's first chief technology officer in 2001. During his tenure, he led multiple technology developments, including the Wi-Fi, USB, Intel Core, and Intel Xeon processors, as well as 14 other chip projects.
In 2005, he served as the senior vice president and general manager of the digital enterprise group. Three years later, he left the company to join EMC, which was later acquired by Dell in 2016. Gelsinger then joined VMWare as its CEO in 2012, leading the role until 2021, when he decided to return to Intel and be named its new CEO.
"To come back 'home' to Intel in the CEO role during such a critical time for innovation, as we see the digitization of everything accelerating, will be the greatest honour of my career," he stated.
Net Worth
Gelsinger's estimated net worth is US$104 million (around GBP 82.22 million), driven by his involvement with major corporations such as Intel Corporation, Mobileye Global Inc., VMware, Inc., and EMC Corporation.
His financial activity has shown remarkable trends over the years. In 2021, he made his most significant push to acquire shares, engaging in 20 transactions, the highest number in a single year. March 2021 stood out as his busiest month for stock acquisitions. That year, Gelsinger invested US$15.78 million (around GBP 12.45 million) to purchase over 7.14 million shares, marking his most active and expensive acquisition period.
Leadership Under Industry Duress
When Gelsinger rejoined Intel in 2021, the company faced continued competition, especially in the semiconductor market. Taiwan-based TSMC, Nvidia, and Samsung led the way in market share even as of this writing.
It was also worth noting that the company under his leadership faced significant backlash when it was reported in the same year that Gelsinger offended TSMC by calling out its precarious relationship with China. In a report from Reuters, he was reported saying, "You don't want all of your eggs in the basket of a Taiwan fab", interpreted as industry speak for a chip fabrication plant. That same year, he also mentioned at a tech conference that "Taiwan is not a stable place" despite a large chunk of the global supply for semiconductors manufactured in this diminutive East Asian nation.
Before Gelsinger's comments, Intel had a sweet deal with TSMC, offering the US company deep discounts for Intel-designed chips. Following this, the Taiwan chip giant remarked that Intel's CEO's remarks were "a bit rude" and that sources stated that it would not honour its discount with Intel moving forward.
His streak of making remarks against competitors continued in 2022 as he went on a tirade against Qualcomm and Nvidia, asserting that Intel's new products are 'more than just words'. In 2023, during an interview with Digit, Gelsinger highlighted three critical mistakes the company faced in recent years: Intel's failed smartphone business, the cancellation of an early AI-oriented GPU, and the lack of focus on "building a great foundry".
"Three Years Later, Intel's Still A Mess"
As Gelsinger vacates his position as Intel CEO, many industry experts have lamented that Intel continues to be a "mess" even months before his prior resignation.
For Stacy Rasgon, a Bernstein Research analyst, while the company isn't necessarily doing the "wrong" things, he believes that making a strategy to bring back Intel into a proper rival against more prominent companies like TSMC would take a long time.
"It took 10 years to break it; why would it take less than 10 years to fix it? I am not knocking the strategy; they are probably doing what they have to do, but it's going to be a slog," she stated in an interview with MarketWatch.
It is also worth noting that Intel has potential growth potential in its manufacturing business in the USA, given the chaotic geopolitics in the Asia-Pacific and continued natural disasters, which saw a need to grow semiconductor operations outside of the region as an alternative.
As competitors continue to intensify their efforts in the semiconductor industry, Intel's next steps will be crucial in determining whether it can reclaim its position as a global leader in chip manufacturing. Stakeholders will closely watch how the company navigates this leadership change while staying true to the strategic vision laid out during Gelsinger's tenure.
