(Reuters) -Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger has stepped down less than four years after taking the helm of the company, handing control to two lieutenants as the faltering American chipmaking icon searches for a permanent replacement.

Gelsinger, who resigned on Dec. 1, left the company before the completion of an ambitious and costly four-year plan to restore the company's lead in making the fastest and smallest computer chips, a crown it lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which makes chips for Intel rivals such as Nvidia . 

While Gelsinger has assured both investors and U.S. officials, who are subsidizing Intel's turnaround, that his manufacturing plans remain on track, the full results will not be known until next year, when the company aims to bring a flagship laptop chip back into its own factories.

"While we have made significant progress in regaining manufacturing competitiveness and building the capabilities to be a world-class foundry, we know that we have much more work to do at the company and are committed to restoring investor confidence," Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board, said in a release.

Shares of the company rose nearly 5% in premarket trading. The stock has lost more than half of its value this year, and was replaced last month by Nvidia on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average index.

The company named Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and senior executive Michelle Johnston Holthaus as interim co-chief executive officers while its board conducted a search for a new CEO.

The company's board has formed a search committee to appoint Gelsinger's successor.