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 further 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, told Yahoo Finance.
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.
Intel declined to comment on its CEO search.
Yahoo Finance spoke to analysts and several former high-level Intel executives, who offered their insights on who Intel’s board might select to take the helm of America’s only large-scale, leading-edge chip manufacturer.
The aforementioned Intel analyst told Yahoo Finance 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.
“As someone who’s very tightly connected within the company, I have not gotten the feeling that they are even remotely close to picking someone,” Sag told Yahoo Finance.
Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, reported that Intel’s external candidates include former Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Marvell Technology (MRVL) CEO Matt Murphy, Intel board member Stacy Smith, Ampere Computing founder Renee James, Apple’s (AAPL) internal chip head Johny Srouji, Analog Devices (ADI) exec Gregory Bryant, and Lenovo’s (0992.HK) Kirk Skaugen.
Five of those “outsiders” previously worked at Intel. Several of them spent more than a decade at the company and were pushed out under former CEO Brian Krzanich.
The Intel analyst also mentioned Boeing (BA) chair and former Qualcomm (QCOM) CEO Steve Mollenkopf and Eclipse Ventures general partner Sanjay Jha as potential candidates.
Sources have mixed opinions on whether it should hire an insider who knows the company well.
“Intel needs to be examined by a fresh set of eyes unburdened by prior affiliations,” Futurum Group analyst David Nicholson told Yahoo Finance.
Bernstein semiconductor analyst Stacy Rasgon said Lip-Bu Tan is the candidate “a lot of shareholders would love to see” fill the role. Tan previously served on Intel’s board but stepped down in August because he disagreed with Intel’s foundry strategy — a plan that was aggressively pursued by Gelsinger. Former executives agreed that Tan is “well-respected” and, in many ways, an ideal person for the role.
“Lip-Bu knows how to do a turnaround, how to reinvent a business, how to incentivize change. He also knows how resistant Intel is to change,” the aforementioned Intel manufacturing executive told Yahoo Finance.
Yet according to analysts, Tan would not be interested in such a leadership role at this point in his career. Tan also sits on the board of Gelsinger’s Christian organization.
One of the former high level executives with knowledge of the matter said that Tan is still deciding whether he would consider taking the role.
One of the five former Intel insiders is AI startup Ampere founder Renee James, who was described by two of the former executives as “strategically brilliant” and “execution-oriented.”
However, one of the sources, who worked at the company for decades, said that James does not have a good enough relationship with the board to be a top pick.
Stacy Smith — an Intel board member who previously worked at the company for nearly 30 years, including as CFO for roughly a decade — was described by the former Intel manufacturing executive as “trusted, respected, well-liked.”
Smith recently oversaw the IPO of Japanese company Toshiba’s chip business as its executive chair, which was rebranded as Kioxia in recent years. The completion of Kioxia’s IPO opens the door for Smith to take the Intel job, one of the former executives said.
Former executives also spoke highly of Kirk Skaugen, a former engineer who served in executive roles across Intel’s PC and data center business. Apple’s Srouji and Marvell’s Murphy are both well-versed in semiconductors, but sources doubt either will take the top job.
Wall Street has mixed views on how long the CEO search will take. In a client note on Jan. 8, Danley suggested that the process could wrap up “within the next couple of months,” writing that “the company is relatively far along in the process.” Meanwhile, KeyBanc’s John Vinh wrote in his own note the same day that the process would likely take four to six months.
“The board is currently looking at external candidates with no hard timelines,” Vinh said.
Last Friday, Intel’s stock popped on a report that an unnamed company is trying to acquire the company. Analyst Dylan Patel suggested Elon Musk, while Citi wrote that Broadcom (AVGO) would be the most likely buyer. Last year, Qualcomm reportedly explored an acquisition before interest cooled off.
Intel did not respond to a request for comment on the acquisition rumors.
Meanwhile, US officials are eyeing a merger between US-based chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries and Intel, per Bloomberg.
But until a new CEO can be found, the chips giant is at a standstill. “The interim CEOs … will avoid altering the overall grand strategy in irreversible ways,” KeyBanc analyst Vinh added in his note.
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Yasmin Khorram is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow Yasmin on Twitter/X @YasminKhorram and on LinkedIn. Send newsworthy tips to Yasmin: yasmin.khorram@yahooinc.com
Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @LauraBratton5
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