Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigns over past relationship with fellow employee

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has resigned after it emerged that he had previously had a consensual relationship with a fellow employee, which is against company rules.

In a statement, the company confirmed that it had accepted Krzanich’s resignation because the relationship had breached the non-fraternisation policy in Intel’s wider code of conduct.

“Intel was recently informed that Mr Krzanich had a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee,” the statement read.

“An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel’s non-fraternisation policy, which applies to all managers.

“Given the expectation that all employees will respect Intel’s values and adhere to the company code of conduct, the board has accepted his resignation.”

The chipmaker has promoted chief financial officer Bob Swan as Krzanich’s interim successor, and has already started the search for his permanent replacement.

“The board believes strongly in Intel’s strategy and we are confident in Bob Swan’s ability to lead the company as we conduct a robust search for our next CEO,” said Intel chairman Andy Bryant.

“Bob has been instrumental to the development and execution of Intel’s strategy, and we know the company will continue to smoothly execute. We appreciate Brian’s many contributions to Intel.”

Krzanich’s tenure as CEO began in May 2013, and he has overseen the company’s efforts to reposition itself as a company whose technology is renowned for powering cloud datacentres and internet of things (IoT) devices, rather than just PCs.

The company’s most recent financial results, published in April 2018, suggest the change in strategy is paying off, with the company posting record first-quarter revenue of $16.1bn, up 13% year on year.

At the time, the company reported 25% year-on-year revenue growth within its client computing division, despite the overall sluggishness of the PC market as a whole, as well as a 24% year-on-year uptick in revenue within its datacentre arm.

This, in turn, prompted the firm to revise upwards its revenue and earnings projections for the 2018 financial year.