Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel, has resigned after an internal and external investigation found that he violated Intel’s non-fraternization policy following a consensual relationship with an employee.
Brian Krzanich became the CEO of Intel in 2013. He led the company’s shift to focus on making chips for data centers that power cloud computing from its traditional stronghold in personal computers. Intel shares more than doubled during his tenure.
Intel on Thursday raised its second-quarter revenue and profit forecast, saying it expects quarterly revenue of about $16.9 billion and adjusted profit of about 99 cents per share, up from a previous forecast of $16.3 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings per share of 85 cents.
A press release from Intel did not say that the board has removed the high profile CEO from the position. Analysts believe that Brian Krzanich was removed from the position due to his inability to follow Intel policies.
The US-based chipset company said Brian Krzanich, 58, had a consensual relationship with an Intel employee. Intel did not reveal the name of the employee with whom Brian Krzanich had a consensual relationship. Analysts are speculating that the employee may have got huge professional support during his period.
Intel is one of the rivals of Qualcomm, Samsung, among others. Last year, Samsung became the #1 semiconductor company in the world beating Intel.
“An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel confirmed a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which applies to all managers. Given the expectation that all employees will respect Intel’s values and adhere to the company’s code of conduct, the board has accepted Krzanich’s resignation,” Intel said.
Intel chief financial officer Robert Swan will be the interim chief executive officer. Intel will be announcing a new CEO soon.
Intel, which will announce the second-quarter earnings on July 26, said it expects to deliver a record second quarter, with revenues of approximately $16.9 billion and non-GAAP EPS of approximately $0.99.
