Pat Gelsinger, who recently resigned as CEO from the struggling US chipmaker Intel Corp, could get as much as $12 million as payout, the company’s regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.
The severance payment would include $1.9 million as base salary for 18 months and 1.5 times his target bonus of $3.4 million, payable over 18 months, said the company.
Gelsinger is also eligible for his annual bonus for the 11 months he served as CEO in 2024, bringing the total to about $12 million, according to a calculation.
He was forced to quit, less than four years after taking the helm of Intel, after a board meeting last week during which directors felt his costly and ambitious turnaround plan was not working.
Two Intel executives, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will act as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a replacement for Gelsinger.
Zinsner is executive vice president and chief financial officer at Intel. Holthaus was appointed to the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, which includes the client computing, data centre and AI groups.
The departure of Gelsinger, whose career spanned more than 40 years, underscores the turmoil at Intel.
He started at Intel in 1979 and was its first chief technology officer. He returned to the company as chief executive in 2021.
Exit is bittersweet, says Gelsinger
In a statement, Gelsinger said his exit was “bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career.”
“I can look back with pride at all that we have accomplished together. It has been a challenging year for all of us as we have made tough but necessary decisions to position Intel for the current market dynamics.”
Gelsinger’s departure comes as Intel’s financial woes have been piling up.
The company posted a $16.6 billion loss and halted its dividend in the most recent quarter, and its shares have fallen by about 60 per cent since he took over as CEO.
–With inputs from agencies.
