Intel has named Pat Gelsinger its new CEO from 15 February. A former Intel employee for 30 years in key engineering roles, Gelsinger left the company to join EMC and has served as VMware CEO since 2012. He replaces Bob Swan, who served just over two years as CEO after previously working as CFO.
Intel was quick to play down any performance issues as the reason for the change. The company said it expects to exceed its guidance for Q4 revenues and EPS and is making "strong progress" on overcoming delays with its 7nm production.
Swan became CEO in mid-2018 after the previous CEO Brian Krzanich was forced to resign for violating Intel's policy of no fraternising between managers and employees. Intel did not say whether Swan will take on a different role at the company. He first joined Intel in 2016 as CFO.
Most recently, Gelsinger served as the CEO of VMware since 2012. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of EMC Information Infrastructure Products at EMC, overseeing engineering and operations for information storage, data computing, backup and recovery, RSA security and enterprise solutions. Before joining EMC, he spent 30 years at Intel, becoming the company’s first chief technology officer and driving the creation of technologies such as USB and Wi-Fi. He was the architect of the original 80486 processor, led 14 different microprocessor programs and played key roles in the Core and Xeon families, Intel said.
Strategy shift
The change in CEO comes as Intel is under pressure for investors to reconsider its strategy. Amid ongoing consolidation in the semiconductor market and geopolitical pressures, investors have suggested the company spin off its manufacturing operations into a separate company, so it can concentrate more on the core business of chip design.
A report earlier this week from Bloomberg said the company had started talks with Samsung and TSMC about a possible move to using their foundries for production. However, no final decision on dividing up the company has been taken.
VMware said it has started the search for a new CEO, led by its lead independent director Paul Sagan. Until one is appointed, CFO Zane Rowe will serve as interim CEO.
