Intel names two chip industry veterans to its board amid CEO search

INTEL on Thursday (Dec 5) named two chip industry veterans to its board, as the struggling semiconductor firm looks for a new top boss following the recent ouster of Pat Gelsinger and tries to reclaim its lost glory.

The chipmaker said Eric Meurice, former CEO of chipmaking equipment provider ASML, and Steve Sanghi, interim CEO of Microchip Technology, are the new additions to its board. Both Meurice and Sanghi have previously worked at Intel.

Intel has struggled to keep up with advanced chipmaking, falling well behind rivals such as Nvidia in designing chips that power artificial intelligence (AI) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in making smaller and more efficient semiconductors.

Gelsinger, whose removal as CEO was announced on Monday (Dec 2), was tasked to restore Intel’s lead in chipmaking, but his costly bet on contract manufacturing has seen the company shrink to a market value more than 30 times smaller than Nvidia.

Intel has started evaluating a handful of outsiders, including former board member Lip-Bu Tan, for the role of CEO, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The company’s next CEO will have manufacturing expertise as well as experience in the product side of the business, interim co-CEO and CFO David Zinsner said earlier this week.

Meurice led ASML from 2004 to 2013 and previously held roles at Thomson, Dell, and ITT Semiconductors. He worked at Intel between 1984 and 1989.

ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography tools are crucial for making smaller, faster chips. Intel’s delay in adopting these tools set it years behind Taiwanese rival TSMC.

Sanghi chairs Microchip’s board and was its CEO from 1991 to 2021, before returning as interim chief executive in November as the chipmaker grappled with a slowdown in demand from automotive customers. He was at Intel between 1978 and 1988, according to his LinkedIn page. REUTERS

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