Intel board member Lip-Bu Tan has resigned from the board, having reportedly clashed with the chipmaker’s CEO Pat Gelsinger.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Tan had become frustrated with the company’s ‘bloated’ workforce, in addition to Intel’s ‘risk-averse culture’ and its failure to set out a meaningful artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.
This is at odds with an official statement released by Tan, in which he said his decision to leave was a “personal decision based on a need to reprioritize various commitments, and I remain supportive of the company and its important work.”
Tan joined Intel’s board in September 2022. In addition to being the CEO of Cadence Design Systems, according to his LinkedIn profile, he is also Chairman of Walden International – a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California – and is a non-voting board member at Schneider Electric.
The news only serves to deepen Intel’s woes. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that Intel was meeting with advisors and had hired Morgan Stanley to help defend itself against activist investors.
It’s unclear whether an activist campaign is set to be launched or if activist investors have thus far just engaged the company in talks in an attempt to bring about change. Representatives for Intel and Morgan Stanley both declined CNBC’s requests for comment.
The news comes amid a $10 billion cost-cutting plan implemented by the company after it posted a $1.6bn net loss for Q2 2024 and announced it would be cutting more than 15,000 jobs from its global workforce.
