By his own admission, Pat Gelsinger bleeds Intel (INTC) in blue. It’s no surprise to see how the self-described tech geek started at the chip maker at age 18, became its first chief technology officer and learned from famous Intel CEO Andy Grove.
But until the announcement in mid-January that he would be Intel’s eighth CEO, Gelsinger had been in VMWare’s top cloud position for 11 years.
“When I left the company [Intel] 11 years ago, I was expelled from the company and it was difficult. You know that there is a typical phrase that says that what was done for evil has worked for good. And man, it hurt right away. Was difficult. But, it made me better, “Gelsinger told Yahoo Finance Presents.
Gelsinger said he used his time as CEO of VMWare to learn new leadership skills that, in the end, perfectly prepared him to return home as chief of Intel. VMWare’s shareholders have been generously rewarded under Gelsinger’s supervision: amid acceleration in the cloud, VMWare’s shares have gained 193% over the past five years.
Gelsinger recalls: “My 11-year vacation, as I call it, became an experienced CEO. I learned new leadership skills with a focus on the customer, a new emphasis on diversity and inclusion and what it means to build a culture and how to work with finance. on the street. All of these things are now combined with the 30 years of experience I had at Intel. I will say that every neural pattern I have ever exercised is being used up every day at work at Intel. “
These Gelsinger neural patterns were certainly triggered in warp overdrive this week.
The company – which has been pressured to outsource its chip manufacturing further – announced on Tuesday, during a business update, its plan to invest $ 20 billion to build two new factories in Arizona. Intel has also pledged to manufacture chips for other companies in an attempt to increase the industry’s capacity.
“There is an extraordinary demand for semiconductors, as we are seeing basically, the world is becoming more digital in all aspects,” said Gelsinger.
Gelsinger will also bring back Intel’s version of a developer conference in October.
“It is truly an extraordinary opportunity that I had to go back and play this role,” said Gelsinger.
Brian Sozzi is a general editor and anchor on Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi is on LinkedIn.
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