Intel Corp is replacing its chief executive officer after only two years in what had been a rough stretch for the chipmaker.
Bob Swan, who became the company’s CEO in early 2019, is in the middle of next month to be replaced by industry veteran Pat Gelsinger, the company said.
The choice of Gelsinger, who decades ago started his career as an Intel engineer, 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.
Photo: Reuters
On Wednesday, Intel’s stock jumped 7 percent on news of the change at the top.
The California-based company said that the change in leadership is unrelated to its financial performance last year, but the surprise shake-up followed several weeks of investor activism by hedge fund Third Point LLC, which had pushed for big changes.
Intel late last month acknowledged that it had received a letter from the New York-based fund and was working with it on ideas “regarding enhanced shareholder value.”
Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb on Wednesday wrote on Twitter that “Swan is a class act and did the right thing for all stakeholders stepping aside for Gelsinger.”
Intel spokesman William Moss said that the leadership change “was not driven by Third Point.”
Intel chairman Omar Ishrak said in a prepared statement 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.”
the chipmaker last year disclosed that there would be a substantial delay in its development of a next-generation process already in use by other major suppliers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
The unexpected snag meant that Intel’s 7-nanometer processing technology is unlikely to be ready until the end of next year or early 2023, potentially putting the company behind its rivals.
Apple Inc last year also dealt a blow to Intel when it began replacing Intel processors with Apple-designed chips in its new computers.
Intel faced yet another challenge when US graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp announced plans to buy UK-based Arm Ltd in a deal that would create a global powerhouse in the industry.
Gelsinger has since 2012 been CEO of software company VMware Inc and has more than four decades of experience in the 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. His finance background, including top finance roles at eBay Inc and several other firms, marked a shift for Intel, which has mostly had engineers at the top since its 1968 founding, although its fifth CEO was an economist.
Swan said in a prepared statement that it is the right time for a transition and that he fully supports Gelsinger’s arrival.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for