Bye-Bye VMware, Pat Gelsinger goes ‘home’ to Intel

In about a month, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger will be going over to Intel to replace Bob Swan as Intel’s chief. He joins Intel on the day after Valentine’s Day.

The beleaguered chip maker is undergoing what many perceive as a manufacturing crisis, and the industry thinks that Pat can help Intel navigate its way out of it.

Reuters reports that once a leader in the chip-making tech arena, Intel has lost out in recent years to Taiwanese and Korean rivals, like TSMC and Samsung.

The proverbial final straw that broke the camel’s back is when Intel’s chief engineering officer resigned in August 2020. Venkata ‘Murthy’ Renduchintala joined Intel from Qualcomm, and he held a huge role overseeing technology, engineering, and manufacturing. It is unclear if he had a successor.

At one point, Swan had also alluded to potentially outsourcing their chip designs to Asia rivals.

Break up

Reuters reported that investor Third Point LLC sent Intel’s board a letter, asking it to consider separating their chip design from manufacturing operations.

Pat had spent 30 years during the early part of his career at Intel, and after becoming CEO at VMware, in 2012, has had offers to return Intel and this time to helm it.

It is not immediately clear what made him change his mind.

Pat said in a statement, ““Having begun my career at Intel and learned at the feet of Grove, Noyce and Moore, it’s my privilege and honour to return in this leadership capacity.

“I have tremendous regard for the company’s rich history and powerful technologies that have created the world’s digital infrastructure.”

Many are looking toward him to close the gap between Intel and its rivals, and who knows… perhaps lead Intel to take crown again as chip-making technology leader.