Intel CEO forced out after board loses confidence in turnaround plan

SAN FRANCISCO - Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger has been forced out less than four years after taking the helm of the company, handing control to two lieutenants as the faltering American chipmaking icon searches for a permanent replacement.

Mr Gelsinger, who resigned on Dec 1, left after a board meeting last week during which directors felt his costly and ambitious plan to turn Intel around was not working and the progress of change was not fast enough, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The board told Mr Gelsinger he could retire or be removed, and he chose to step down, according to the source.

His departure comes well before the completion of his four-year road map to restore the company's lead in making the fastest and smallest computer chips, a crown it lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co which makes chips for Intel rivals such as Nvidia.

Under Mr Gelsinger's watch, Intel, which was founded in 1968 and for decades formed the bedrock of Silicon Valley's global dominance in chips, has withered to a market value more than 30 times smaller than Nvidia, the leader in artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Bloomberg earlier reported on the circumstances surrounding Mr Gelsinger's retirement.

Mr Gelsinger, 63, has assured both investors and US officials, who are subsidising Intel's turnaround, that his manufacturing plans remain on track.

But the full results will not be known until 2025, when the company aims to bring a flagship laptop chip back into its own factories.