Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger recently sat with Bloomberg Studio 1.0 (opens in new tab) for an interview in which he expressed an optimistic view of Intel's future while attempting to alleviate the concerns of some shareholders.
The interview comes during an Intel investor event, during which shareholders have been given a first-hand look at the future of the company, which includes the launch of its Arc Alchemist line of GPUs (opens in new tab). Gelsinger spent many years at Intel, but left the company for a little over a decade before returning to take the CEO job last year. In his short time as captain, he's already made some big moves to challenge competitor AMD. Intel plans to spend $20 billion on building the largest chip-making facility (opens in new tab) in the world in Ohio, and as of last week, it is also planning on buying Tower Semiconductor Ltd (opens in new tab) for $5.4 billion.
Nevertheless, Intel share prices have dipped 22% in the past year. Gelsinger blames "massive shortages" and the fact that "competitors are performing well" as some of the reasons for Intel's market struggles.
"We've gotten a lot done over the first year," said Gelsinger. "But you don't change, you don't fix, you don't reestablish [Intel as a stronger company] after a decade of bad decisions and poor execution. It's going to take a while, but we are well on our way after year one."
Throughout the interview, Gelsinger seems unfazed by the concerns of shareholders. When the interviewer asked him to grade his time as CEO so far, Gelsinger said, "I give myself an A-." He also takes issue, jovially, with those who doubt Intel's strategy for the future (opens in new tab).
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"We still got analysts out here, some of whom piss me off right?" the CEO said. "I call them bears and permabears that sort say, 'Yes that's the right strategy Pat, but I'm not sure if I need to invest for a year or two, yet. When's it going to start materializing in the marketplace?'
"...I appreciate divergent views. That's part of the Intel culture."
The rest of the 20-minute interview goes into deeper Gelsinger's past at Intel, praising the job Dr. Lisa Su (opens in new tab) has done at AMD, and China. The new Intel CEO is apparently still extremely confident the company can become the powerhouse that Intel once was.
