Analysis Featured News Stocks

Intel races to find its next CEO, but insiders say no clear frontrunners yet

post-img

Intel (INTC) is racing against the clock to find a new chief executive who can launch the company into the artificial intelligence age — or risk sinking into irrelevance.

A series of strategic missteps dating back to the early 2000s and a failure to build cutting-edge technologies culminated in the once-dominant chipmaker’s dramatic crash in 2024, when its stock plummeted 55%.

Its board ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger in December and appointed two temporary co-CEOs.

The move laid bare the board’s lack of a coherent strategy and called into question the fate of Gelsinger’s bold turnaround plan: Opening up Intel’s manufacturing business to make chips for external customers (i.e. operating a foundry).

“I think it’s the board that should have been fired, not him,” analyst William Lazonick, who has written extensively on Intel for the Institute of New Economic Thinking.

Since Gelsinger’s exit, the board has brought on two semiconductor experts, former ASML CEO Eric Meurice and Microchip chairman Steve Sanghi. Prior to their addition, only two of the 11 board members had semiconductor industry experience, per Citi analyst Christopher Danley.

A Wall Street Intel analyst said Meurice and Sanghi are “already … challenging the plans [and] the processes within Intel.” They asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the topic. The aforementioned Intel analyst said that temporary co-CEO David Zinsner “doesn’t want the job.” Several people with knowledge of the situation said Zinsner’s counterpart, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, is being considered for the role. A former executive said the Intel veteran, who heads its products group, “has a shot.”

The former executive and another former high-level executive from Intel’s manufacturing division critiqued Holthaus as lacking technical skill — a quality that analysts and Intel insiders agree is a must-have in its next leader.

“She never has an independent idea. She never drives an agenda,” one of the former executives said. Intel describes Holthaus as “a proven general manager and leader.”

Moor Insights & Strategy analyst Anshel Sag said the chipmaker will likely choose someone currently outside the company, but the decision will take a while.

Related Post