A new boss will have to decide whether to abandon the company’s hopes of becoming a chip-manufacturing leader.

Gelsinger spent most of his career at Intel, rising to chief technology officer before leaving to run VMWare in 2012 and then returning as CEO in 2021. He was generally well respected by Wall Street and industry insiders, but on his watch, the stock underperformed the market as Intel lost ground in the AI race to Nvidia.

David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus were named interim co-leaders after the boomerang executive, who returned to the company in 2021, left the top job.

Intel Corp.’s ousted Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, who was forced out after the board lost confidence in his plans to turn around the iconic chipmaker, is set to receive as much as $10 million in severance pay.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired, the struggling chipmaker said Monday in a surprise announcement. Two company executives, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will act as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a replacement for Gelsinger,

It’s been a quiet few news days as everyone seemingly parses deals from Black Friday through to Cyber Monday. But there’s always time for a shock announcement: Pat Gelsinger is retiring after over 40 years at the company and close to four years at the chip manufacturer’s helm.