Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Forced Out by Board

Ian King, Liana Baker, and Ryan Gould, reporting for Bloomberg:*

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger was forced out after the board lost confidence in his plans to turn around the iconic chipmaker, adding to turmoil at one of the pioneers of the technology industry.

The clash came to a head last week when Gelsinger met with the board about the company’s progress on winning back market share and narrowing the gap with Nvidia Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. He was given the option to retire or be removed, and chose to announce the end of his career at Intel, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing proceedings that were not made public.

Intel Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus are serving as interim co-CEOs while the board searches for Gelsinger’s replacement, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, will serve as interim executive chair.

See also: Techmeme’s roundup.

* Bloomberg, of course, is the publication that published “The Big Hack” in October 2018 — a sensational story alleging that data centers of Apple, Amazon, and dozens of other companies were compromised by China’s intelligence services. The story presented no confirmable evidence at all, was vehemently denied by all companies involved, has not been confirmed by a single other publication (despite much effort to do so), and has been largely discredited by one of Bloomberg’s own sources. By all appearances “The Big Hack” was complete bullshit. Yet Bloomberg has issued no correction or retraction, and their only ostensibly substantial follow-up contained not one shred of evidence to back up their allegations. Bloomberg seemingly hopes we’ll all just forget about it. I say we do not just forget about it. Everything they publish should be treated with skepticism until they retract “The Big Hack” or provide evidence that any of it was true.

★ Monday, 2 December 2024