The Ledger ResearchPrivate

The Front Office

Scouting report · INTC

David A. Zinsner

  • Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, INTC since 2022-01src

Intel CFO since January 2022; interim co-CEO Dec 2024 - Mar 2025

C57 / 100

Ranked #21 of 23

Scouting sheet

as of 24 Sep 2026
Delivers guidance625 beat · 1 met · 2 missed · 2 withdrawn
Answers the question882 dodges in 30 answers on 2 calls
Capital allocation20company five-year record: destroys
Pay design53revenue, margin, strategic, individual, relative tsr, time only · 86.9% for · company lost money
Skin in the game60stake worth $45.2m, 2× last year's pay
Age
57src
In the role
5 yr
Promises scored
10
Hit rate
60%
Dodges / 100 answers
6.7
Airtime on calls
50%
Every promise, oldest firstXBXBBBBWWM

What to weigh

Watch 6

  • Both withdrawn rows in the S8 table are annual spending commitments he restated: 2026 opex $16.0bn became about $16.5bn, and 2026 capex went from down to flat to over $20bn within six monthssrc
  • On the Q2 2026 call he said Intel might need to tap the capital markets; 18 days later Intel sold 242.1m shares at $95 (about $23bn) off a shelf filed the same daysrc
  • Since 2026-04-24 he is principal financial and principal accounting officer at once, after the CAO resigned; no new CAO had been named in any 8-K through September 2026src
  • Took an outside public-company board seat (Albertsons) in September 2025 while CFO, alongside two Intel-affiliate boardssrc
  • Named defendant in the 2024 foundry-disclosure securities and derivative suits; the securities case was dismissedsrc
  • 2025 Summary Compensation Table total $18.2m, including a one-off $1.5m cash payment for the interim co-CEO stint; half of annual equity is time-vested RSUssrc

In their favour 3

  • No open-market sales in the last 12 months; the only open-market trade was a $250k purchase in January 2026. Other dispositions were shares withheld for tax on vestingsrc
  • Meets the 5x-salary stock ownership guideline (deadline January 2027); Intel bans hedging and pledgingsrc
  • Say-on-pay passed with 86.9% of for-plus-against votes at the May 2026 meetingsrc

Career

  1. 2024 – 2025
    Intel Corporationsrc
    Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer (with Michelle Johnston Holthaus), while remaining CFO
    2024-12-01 to 2025-03-18, when Lip-Bu Tan took over (DEF14A-2026)
  2. 2022 – now
    Intel Corporationsrc
    Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer (effective 2022-01-17)
    Also principal accounting officer at appointment and again from 2026-04-24; the 10-K adds Real Estate and Workplace Services and Corporate Development to his remit
  3. 2021 – 2022
    Micron Technologysrc
    Executive Vice President & CFO (Oct 2021 - Jan 2022)
  4. 2018 – 2021
    Micron Technologysrc
    Senior Vice President & CFO (Feb 2018 - Oct 2021)
  5. 2017 – 2018
    Affirmed Networkssrc
    President & Chief Operating Officer (Apr 2017 - Feb 2018)
  6. 2009 – 2017
    Analog Devicessrc
    Senior Vice President of Finance & CFO (Jan 2009 - Apr 2017)
  7. 2005 – 2009
    Intersil Corporationsrc
    Senior Vice President & CFO (Jul 2005 - Jan 2009)

Not located: Before July 2005 not located in any source searched (the 10-K says three decades in the industry; earlier roles are not itemised)

Achievements

  • Has been CFO at three listed chipmakers in a row: Intersil (2005-09), Analog Devices (2009-17) and Micron (2018-22), then Intel from January 2022src
  • Ran Intel as interim co-CEO for 3.5 months after Gelsinger resigned on 2024-12-01, staying CFO throughoutsrc
  • The 2026 proxy credits him with the 2025 deals that repaired the balance sheet (US government, Nvidia, SoftBank Group, Altera, Mobileye) and with the 2025 opex and capex cuts; individual score 110%src
  • Bought 5,882 Intel shares on the open market at $42.50 on 2026-01-26, about $250ksrc

Education

  • Carnegie Mellon University, BS Industrial managementsrc
  • Vanderbilt University, MBA Finance and accountingsrc

Background

  • Family The 2026 proxy states there are no family relationships among any Intel directors or executive officerssrc
  • Boards Director of Albertsons Companies since September 2025 (Form 3 event date 2025-09-15); paid in time-vested director RSUssrc
  • Boards Director of Mobileye Global (Intel-controlled) since August 2025, and of Altera, in which Intel kept a minority stake after the 2025 salesrc
  • Boards Previously a Credo Technology director for over five years, including its IPOsrc
  • Other Hired in 2022 on a make-whole package for pay forfeited at Micron: $5m target PSUs, $12m RSUs and a $2m cash sign-on bonus repayable pro rata if he left within two yearssrc
  • Other No employment agreement beyond the offer letter; the proxy puts involuntary-termination cash severance at $3.51m under the Executive Officer Cash Severance Policysrc
  • Legal Named with Gelsinger in the May 2024 securities class action over the foundry segment disclosures; the court dismissed it in March 2025 without prejudice, and a later search result reports dismissal with prejudicesrc
  • Legal Named with Gelsinger in a December 2024 shareholder derivative suit (LR Trust) seeking disgorgement of their pay over the foundry disclosures; outcome not locatedsrc

The promise ledger

10 scored · 0 open
ResultWhat was promisedWhere it is scoredHow
X MissedQ3 2024 · rev $12.5–13.5bn · non-GAAP EPS $(0.03) · non-GAAP GM 38.0%INTC row 1said it, with a colleague
B BeatQ1 2025 · rev $11.7–12.7bn · non-GAAP EPS $0.00 · non-GAAP GM 36.0%INTC row 3said it, with a colleague
X MissedQ2 2025 · rev $11.2–12.4bn · non-GAAP EPS $0.00 · non-GAAP GM 36.5%INTC row 4said it, with a colleague
B BeatQ3 2025 · rev $12.6–13.6bn · non-GAAP EPS $0.00INTC row 5said it, with a colleague
B BeatQ4 2025 · rev $12.8–13.8bn · non-GAAP EPS $0.08 · non-GAAP GM 36.5%INTC row 6said it, with a colleague
B BeatQ1 2026 · rev $11.7–12.7bn · non-GAAP EPS $0.00 · non-GAAP GM 34.5%INTC row 7said it, with a colleague
B BeatQ2 2026 · rev $13.8–14.8bn · non-GAAP EPS $0.20 · non-GAAP GM 39.0%INTC row 8said it, with a colleague
W WithdrawnFY2026 · non-GAAP opex ≈ $16.0bnINTC row 12said it, with a colleague
W WithdrawnFY2026 · capex "flat to down" on FY2025INTC row 13said it
M MetPanther Lake · "first Panther Lake processor SKU remains on track to begin shipping later this year, with additional SKUs coming in the first half of 2026"INTC row 14written outlook

Questions dodged

6.7 per 100 answers

  1. ASIC margins. Rakers asked for "the margin profile of ASICs as they expand". Tan answered TAM; Zinsner answered run rate. Neither addressed margin.

    from INTC · dossier-2026-09-23.md

  2. Also this quarter, and not dodges — stated refusals, logged as notes: how much revenue supply constraint is costing ("I probably not want to put a specific number. Let's just say it starts with a B." — Zinsner [30], to Arcuri) and the precise server TAM growth rate ("I'll probably leave it to the industry analysts to come up pinpoint the exact number." — Zinsner [33], to Arya). A third, softer one: C.J. Muse a…

    from INTC · dossier-2026-09-24.md

Calls reviewed

  • FY2026-Q1.roic.json — 15 answers, 46% of the words
  • FY2026-Q2.roic.json — 15 answers, 54% of the words

Sources

18
  1. Filing Intel Corporation 10-K FY2025 (accession 0000050863-26-000011), Information About Our Executive Officers and signatures · 2026-01-23
  2. Filing Intel Corporation DEF 14A (2026 proxy statement, accession 0000050863-26-000061) · 2026-03-23
  3. Filing Intel Corporation 8-K Item 5.02, appointment of David A. Zinsner as EVP & CFO, with offer letter Ex. 10.1 (0001193125-22-005658) · 2022-01-10
  4. Filing Intel Corporation 8-K Exhibit 99.1, press release naming Zinsner CFO (education) · 2022-01-10
  5. Filing Intel Corporation 8-K Item 5.02, Gelsinger resignation and appointment of Holthaus and Zinsner as Interim Co-CEOs (0000050863-24-000173) · 2024-12-02
  6. Filing Intel Corporation 8-K Item 5.02, CAO Scott Gawel resigns; Zinsner assumes principal accounting officer (0000050863-26-000083) · 2026-04-24
  7. Filing Intel Corporation 8-K Item 5.07, 2026 annual meeting results (say-on-pay 2,795,303,255 for / 422,008,632 against; 5,021,010,228 shares outstanding at the 2026-03-16 record date) · 2026-05-15
  8. Filing Intel Corporation 8-K Items 7.01/8.01, underwritten common stock offering of 2026-08-10 (0001193125-26-346806) · 2026-08-12
  9. Filing SEC XBRL companyconcept us-gaap/NetIncomeLoss, CIK 50863, CY2025 frame (FY2025 10-K, 0000050863-26-000011) · 2026-01-23
  10. Filing Form 4, David Zinsner (reporting CIK 1330891), Intel open-market purchase of 2026-01-26 (0000050863-26-000032) · 2026-01-27
  11. Filing Form 4, David Zinsner, Intel RSU vesting and tax withholding of 2026-06-01 (0000050863-26-000140) · 2026-06-02
  12. Filing Form 3, David Zinsner as director of Mobileye Global Inc., event date 2025-08-25 (0000950103-25-011290) · 2025-09-04
  13. Filing Form 3, David Zinsner as director of Albertsons Companies, Inc., event date 2025-09-15 (0001646972-25-000075) · 2025-09-22
  14. Call transcript INTC Q1 2026 earnings call (2026-04-23), ROIC.ai
  15. Call transcript INTC Q2 2026 earnings call (2026-07-23), ROIC.ai
  16. Web search result WebSearch: The Register, Judge dismisses investor lawsuit over Intel foundry losses, 2025-03-06 · 2026-09-24
  17. Web search result WebSearch: Levi & Korsinsky, Northern District of California dismisses Intel securities fraud claims with prejudice (undated in the search result) · 2026-09-24
  18. Web search result WebSearch: CFO Dive, Intel shareholders look to yank back ex-CEO, CFO compensation (LR Trust derivative suit, Dec 2024) · 2026-09-24