Intel, the world’s largest maker of semiconductors, said on Thursday that its chief executive, Brian Krzanich, resigned over a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee.
The company said Mr. Krzanich had violated a non-fraternization policy that applies to managers. Robert Swan, Intel’s chief financial officer, has been appointed interim chief executive.
“Intel was recently informed that Mr. Krzanich had a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee,” the company said in a statement. “An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which applies to all managers.”
An Intel spokesman declined to provide additional details. Shares of the company fell 1.8 percent in early trading Thursday.
Mr. Krzanich, appointed chief executive in 2013, had been attempting to steer Intel away from its dependence on the sluggish personal computer market. His total compensation last year was $21.5 million, according to executive compensation firm Equilar. That put him at 60th place in an annual ranking of highest-paid C.E.O.s in the United States that Equilar conducts annually for The New York Times.
