Incorrect actually. Though it is true that Krzanich has consistently sold stock every 4th quarter, for this recent transaction, he massively increased the amount he sold. Krzanich sold so much in fact that if he had sold any more stock, he according to Intel corporate mandate bylaws would no longer be allowed to continue as CEO.

If you don't believe me, look for yourself: https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/12/19/intels-ceo-just-so...

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/50863/00011276021703...

And 'coincidentally', this massive increase in selling just seemed to somehow perfectly fit right in the middle of Intel being privately informed of Meltdown in June but before any public disclosure kept locked away all the way until now in January.

This is blatantly illegal insider trading. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

It's not clear to me that he's behaving like he did in the past:

> According to filings, on Nov. 29, Krzanich exercised and sold 644,135 options and sold an additional 245,743 shares that he already owned.

-- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-04/intel-ceo...

Sure, he sold most of his 279k grant, just like he sold most of his previous (much smaller) grants, but he also flipped a huge pile of options. This strikes me as the behavior of a man who never had much confidence in the company he ran, and suddenly had much less.

He is not inspiring much confidence in the future of INTC.

This does not protect said CEO from breaking the insider trading laws. Nor does it protect Intel as a company from conveniently "omitting" the elephant in the room in their press releases and financial risk statements.