Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Joins Venture Capital Firm

Pat Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel who was forcibly ‘retired’ in December, continues to be appointed to new roles this week.

In December 2024 Pat Gelsinger had been forced out of his role as CEO of Intel after a contentious board meeting, amid disputes over his long-running turnaround plan for the American chip giant.

Earlier this month Intel had appointed chip veteran (and former Intel board member) Lip-Bu Tan to succeed Gelsinger as CEO.

Gelsinger appointments

Earlier this week Gelsinger’s first role since his abrupt departure from Intel came when he expanded his role at faith-focused technology company Gloo, becoming the firm’s executive chairman and head of technology.

In the latter role Gelsinger is to take charge of product development, developing AI tools such as chatbots and virtual assistants.

Gelsinger has served on Gloo’s board since 2018, and is also an investor in the company.

But days later venture capital (VC) firm Playground Global announced that Pat Gelsinger has joined as a general partner.

Playground Global was started in 2015 by a group that included Android founder Andy Rubin. As it as VC firm, it focuses on early-stage investments in deep technology.

“A visionary leader in computing and semiconductor innovation, Gelsinger brings more than 45 years of experience driving technological advancements, most recently as CEO of Intel and previously as CEO of VMware,” said the VC firm.

At Playground, Gelsinger will invest alongside fellow General Partners, take board seats, mentor CEOs and lend his technical and operational expertise across the portfolio, the firm stated.

xLight appointment

To that end, the VC also announced that “in addition to his General Partner role at Playground, Gelsinger will become a Board Member and Executive Chair of Playground portfolio company xLight.”

xLight is a pioneer in free electron lasers, used in semiconductor manufacturing.

“Deep tech investments are the fuel of tomorrow’s economy and the fuel of US leadership, ” said Pat Gelsinger, General Partner at Playground Global.

“I couldn’t be more excited to partner with the Playground team and this next generation of brilliant founders and technologists as we invest in tomorrow. Together, we will improve the lives of all through the power of technology.”

Multiple investments

Gelsinger meanwhile told CNBC in an interview that he had considered starting a venture firm with someone else, but opted instead to go with a structure that was already up and running.

“It’s about scale,” Gelsinger reportedly said, adding that starting from scratch would require “10 hard years to get it.”

Gelsinger has also reportedly made a handful of private investments in other startups (besides Gloo) that includes wearable maker Oura and artificial intelligence chip developer Fractile.

Pat Gelsinger is not the first former Intel CEO to join a VC firm.

His predecessor, Bob Swan, joined venture firm Andreessen Horowitz in 2021, a few months after leaving the chipmaker.