The chief executive of Intel has resigned after embarking on a relationship with a company employee.
Brian Krzanich stepped down on Thursday after a probe found the consensual relationship violated company policy.
The head of the largest US chipmaker is the latest in a line of powerful businessmen and politicians who have lost their jobs over relationships considered to be inappropriate.
Mr Krzanich, a 58-year-old married father-of-two, was appointed Intel CEO in May 2013, and was in charge of moving the company's focus to growing data centres from personal computers.
The company’s shares more than doubled during his tenure and he was recently credited with containing the fallout from the disclosure of some security flaws in the company's chips that could allow hackers to steal data from computers.
The company board has named Chief Financial Officer Robert Swan as interim CEO and said it has begun a search for a permanent CEO, including both internal and external candidates.
Intel did not release any more information regarding the probe, but said: “An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel's non-fraternization policy, which applies to all managers.”
"There are no new payments as part of his departure," a source familiar with the company told Reuters.
