Intel replaces chief executive
The US chipmaker will be back in the hands of a tech expert as it struggles to keep up with the competition, writes Matt O’Brien.
Intel is replacing its chief executive after only two years in what had been a rough stretch for the United States chipmaker.
Bob Swan, who became the company’s chief executive in early 2019, will be replaced in midFebruary by tech industry veteran Pat Gelsinger.
The choice of Gelsinger, who started his career as an Intel engineer decades ago, puts the semiconductor pioneer back in the hands of a tech expert at a time when it is struggling to keep up with market changes and growing competition.
‘‘The CEO has to understand what’s going on with this market and how to respond to it,’’ said Glenn O’Donnell, an analyst at Forrester Research. ‘‘Pat’s built a lot of that business over the years.’’
Intel’s stock jumped 7 per cent on Thursday (NZ time) following news of the change at the top.
The California company said that the change in leadership is unrelated to its financial performance last year, but the surprise shakeup followed several weeks of investor activism by hedge fund Third Point, which had pushed for big changes.
Intel said in late December that it had received a letter from the New York fund and was working with it on ideas ‘‘regarding enhanced shareholder value’’.
Third Point chief executive Daniel Loeb tweeted on Thursday that ‘‘Swan is a class act and did the right thing for all stake holders stepping aside for Gelsinger’’.
Intel spokesman William Moss said the changeover ‘‘was not driven by Third Point’’.
Intel chairman Omar Ishrak said that ‘‘the board concluded that now is the right time to make this leadership change to draw on Pat’s technology and engineering expertise during this critical period of transformation at Intel’’.
In mid-2020, Intel disclosed that there would be a substantial delay in its development of a nextgeneration chip-making process already in use by other major suppliers, including Taiwan’s TSMC.
The unexpected snag meant that Intel’s 7-nanometer processing technology is unlikely to be ready until the end of 2022 or early 2023, potentially putting the company behind its rivals.
Apple also dealt a blow to Intel last year when it began replacing Intel processors with Appledesigned chips on new Mac computers. And it faced another challenge when US graphics chip maker Nvidia announced plans to buy UK-based Arm Holdings in a deal that would create a global powerhouse in the industry.
Gelsinger has been the chief executive of software company VMware since 2012 and has more than four decades of experience in the tech industry. He spent most of that time with Intel, where he began his career and was its first chief technology officer.
Swan, a former chief financial officer at Intel, assumed interim leadership in 2018 after chief executive Brian Krzanich resigned after the company learned of what it called a past, consensual relationship with an employee. After a search, Intel confirmed Swan as chief executive in early 2019.
Swan said that it is the right time for a transition and that he fully supports Gelsinger’s arrival.
– AP