The billionaire with an ‘amazing story' who changed Trump's mind
It's a story that's also made Lip-Bu Tan amazingly rich.
The 65-year-old technology and venture capital industry veteran has amassed a fortune worth at least $US1.1 billion ($1.7 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is calculating Tan's net worth for the first time.
The bulk of his fortune stems from Cadence Design Systems, a maker of chip design tools where Tan was chief executive officer for 12 years before joining Intel. He has sold shares worth more than $US575 million in the San Jose, California-based company, and still holds a $US500 million position, according to Bloomberg's calculations.
A Bloomberg report late Thursday afternoon saying the Trump administration is in talks with Intel to have the US government potentially take a stake in the Silicon Valley chipmaker sent the company's shares up 7.4 per cent in New York. The stock gained 15 per cent since Tan's appointment as CEO in March, boosting the value of his stake to more than $US29 million.
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It was Tan's tenure at Cadence, along with his other role as executive chairman of venture firm Walden International, that initially drew criticism from Washington. Trump ally and Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel's board chair earlier this month questioning Tan's ties to China and his history at Cadence, which sold products to a Chinese military university. A day later, the president posted that Tan was 'highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately.'
Tan called the claims 'misinformation' in a letter to employees. But his record of investing in China and the riches it has brought him had already cast a shadow over his work.
In July, Cadence pleaded guilty to violating US export controls during Tan's tenure and took a $US140.6 million charge related to settling the cases. Earlier, in 2023, the US government had sent Tan a letter asking Walden to explain its investments after the San Francisco-based firm had invested in more than 100 Chinese companies.
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