Gelsinger spent most of his career at Intel, rising to chief technology officer before leaving to run VMWare in 2012 and then returning as CEO in 2021. He was generally well respected by Wall Street and industry insiders, but on his watch, the stock underperformed the market as Intel lost ground in the AI race to Nvidia.

Intel stock dropped 6% on Tuesday as investors reacted to the CEO's departure. Wall Street analysts say there's more uncertainty ahead for the chip maker.

Pat has suddenly departed - which is not really a big surprise, given the year Intel's had - and Zinsner plus Holthaus are temporary co-CEOs.

Intel ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger over the weekend , capping a tumultuous nearly four-year tenure at what was America's leading semiconductor company before its stock price and market share collapsed.

On Monday, Intel announced that its CEO Pat Gelsinger was stepping down from his post after more than three years.

Computer chip maker Intel announced the retirement of chief executive Pat Gelsinger on Monday, raising new questions about the company’s future even as the United States is set to give it billions of dollars to build up the country’s ability to manufacture chips at home.

Intel may have ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger, but he’s leaving the company with a significant payday. He’s set to receive 18 months of his base annual salary of $1.25 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

When Intel hired Gelsinger in 2021 to revive the chipmaker's fortunes, he received a pay package that would have been worth as much as $206 million if he had met performance targets.

Intel is in a shake-up. Its next leaders will have to take on the challenges of catching up in the AI race and navigating Donald Trump.