Gelsinger blames Intel’s decline on finance-led leadership

Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger blamed Intel’s loss of momentum in advanced semiconductors on leaders without deep technical backgrounds, arguing that major technology companies need engineering-rooted management. When he returned as CEO in 2021, Gelsinger said he was effectively Intel’s first technology-background leader in about 15 years.

Gelsinger criticized finance-driven decisions that prioritized shareholder returns over next-generation chip investment. Intel returned roughly $79 billion (approximately ¥12.8 trillion) to shareholders through buybacks and dividends between 2015 and 2020, a choice he framed as a missed opportunity to fund R&D and manufacturing capacity.

TSMC widened its advantage by winning Apple’s trust with InFO packaging for the iPhone 7 in 2016 and later making CoWoS a key foundation for Nvidia’s AI chips. InFO compressed package thickness to roughly 0.5 millimeters, while CoWoS became central to integrating GPUs with high-bandwidth memory for AI servers.

Intel’s prospects have improved as geopolitical concerns drive support for U.S. chip production. President Donald Trump’s government-backed move to acquire roughly 10% of Intel and Nvidia’s purchase of approximately $5 billion in shares, equal to about a 4% stake, helped send Intel’s stock up more than 330% over the past year, though recent trading has weakened.