Pat Gelsinger became chief executive of Intel back in 2021 with the aim to turn the company around and regain process technology and product leadership over several years. He was ousted in late 2024 before the job was done, but he remains strongly supportive of the company's mission, so he wants to see the new CEO — Lip-Bu Tan — to finish what he started, he said in an interview with CNBC.
"I was committed to and wanting to finish that story on the revitalization of Intel and with the board, the company, and now with Lip-Bu's leadership, you are really cheering them on to finish, because the role that Intel plays in the semiconductor industry is critical and one that's important not just for the industry but for the U.S., so I could not be more supportive of the team and Lip-Bu to finishing their journey," said Pat Gelsinger.
The challenges Intel faced, particularly around funding and market expectations, made the transformation extremely difficult. Gelsinger pointed out that one of the biggest obstacles was the financial burden of building a next-generation fabrication network. He noted that his IDM 2.0 strategy — under which Intel remains a vertically integrated maker of its own chips and a contract chipmaker with third party clients — was still the correct one, but acknowledged how capital-intensive and demanding it is for any company.
As Intel's core business declined faster than expected, it became clear that external capital was needed to fund the initiative.
"It is a heavy assignment, and for any company to carry the financial requirements of building next-generation technology fab network, it is very heavy in terms of capital returns required and the investments required to go accomplish that," Gelsinger acknowledged. "As Intel's core business was challenged and deteriorated more quickly than many people expected, there was just such a need for capital to come from elsewhere."
The former CEO of Intel also criticized the short-term focus of financial markets, which he said clashed with the long-term nature of the transformation Intel was undergoing. He described the tension of trying to execute a multi-year strategic shift while meeting quarterly financial expectations, emphasizing that such balancing was extremely difficult. He noted that this is exactly what Lip-Bu Tan will face in the coming quarters.
"As I have spoken about, the short-termism of Wall Street makes that very challenging and why, yet again, I would say my very best to Intel and Lip-Bu in finishing that seminally important journey," said Gelsinger. "Being a CEO for a transforming public company I truly think is one of the hardest jobs available, because you are trying to do a five-plus-year transformation on a 90-day shot clock, with heavy financial expectation — that is hard."
In summary, Pat Gelsinger made it clear that despite leaving, he wants Intel — the company that he spent decades in — to succeed and believes in the path the company is on. He reiterated his full support for both the board and Lip-Bu Tan as they continue forward with the IDM 2.0 vision.
