Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who unexpectedly resigned earlier this month, is asking supporters to affix him in prayer and fasting for the corporate’s workforce as layoffs proceed to have an effect on 1000’s of workers.
Gelsinger, 63, introduced his retirement after Intel reported a $1.6 billion quarterly loss. After turning into CEO in 2021 with a daring plan to revitalize Intel, Gelsinger’s departure got here simply days after tensions reportedly flared throughout a board assembly the place Gelsinger was knowledgeable he may both retire or face removing.
In a put up shared on X Dec. 8, Gelsinger revealed that he observes a weekly 24-hour day of prayer and fasting and invited others to affix him this week. “This week I might invite you to affix me in praying and fasting for the 100K Intel workers as they navigate this tough interval,” Gelsinger wrote. “Intel and its group are of seminal significance to the way forward for the trade and US.”
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An outspoken Christian, Gelsinger first started working at Intel when he was 18. As CEO of VMWare in 2013, he co-founded Reworking the Bay with Christ, a nonprofit group that works to jumpstart a Jesus motion within the San Francisco Bay Space to result in a religious and societal transformation.
It’s not the primary time Gelsinger has taken to social media to publicly name for prayer and fasting: he repeatedly acknowledged his common Thursday routine of fasting and prayer in 2016 and 2022.
The response to Gelsinger’s name to fasting and prayer was blended, with some pledging to affix his effort and others mocking him for looking for religious steerage for a secular endeavor.
One consumer wrote: “I recognize your religiosity, however to assume that praying to God will get God to intercede on the behalf of Intel over its chip-making opponents is a really completely different form of faith than I feel I’m keen to admire. In your time at Intel you must have made higher merchandise.”
One other replied, “As a shareholder I’d view this as an enormous crimson flag if a fired CEO asks me to wish for the corporate.”
Gelsinger obtained comparable reactions again in August when he posted a Bible verse after asserting greater than 15% of the tech firm’s workforce can be laid off amid its plummeting share worth.
“Let your eyes look straight forward; repair your gaze instantly earlier than you. Give cautious thought to the paths on your toes and be steadfast in all of your methods,” Pat Gelsinger posted on X, quoting Proverbs 4:25-26.
His put up got here days after he introduced in a notice to workers in August that the chipmaking firm could be chopping about 17,000 of its 116,500 staff as a part of a $10 billion cost-reduction plan, in accordance with FOX Enterprise.
“That is an extremely onerous day for Intel as we’re making a few of the most consequential modifications in our firm’s historical past,” Gelsinger mentioned. “Merely put, we should align our value construction with our new working mannequin and basically change the way in which we function.”
Intel’s inventory worth cratered 26% within the wake of Gelsinger’s announcement, marking its worst day in 50 years and second-worst ever, in accordance with CNBC. In July 1974, the corporate noticed a 31% drop simply three years after its preliminary IPO.
