Intel CEO's ‘amazing story' has helped make him a billionaire
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 $1.1 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 Inc., 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 $575 million in the San Jose, California-based company, and still holds a $500 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% in New York. The stock gained 15% since Tan's appointment as CEO in March, boosting the value of his stake to more than $29 million.
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 $140.6 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.'I want to be absolutely clear: Over 40+ years in the industry, I've built relationships around the world and across our diverse ecosystem – and I have always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards,' Tan wrote in response to the allegations.A spokesperson for Santa Clara, California-based Intel declined to comment.
'Sunset' industry
A naturalised US citizen, Tan was born in Malaysia in 1959, the youngest of five children. His father was editor-in-chief of a Malaysian newspaper, while his mother was a professor in Singapore. After graduating with a degree in physics from Nanyang Technical University, he earned a Masters in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of San Francisco.
His move to Silicon Valley brought him into the venture capital world. He met the founding partner of Walden Capital and proposed raising an international fund for them, offering to do so without being paid a salary, according to an oral history of his life from a 2018 interview at the Computer History Museum. The first fund of $3.3 million was partially seeded with the help of his father-in-law and his father's friends in Malaysia. Tan's technical background led him to concentrate on semiconductors at a time when it was seen as a 'sunset' industry. His investors questioned the strategy, wondering why he would invest in an area US firms had largely abandoned, he said in the 2018 interview. 'Now they're starting to recognize my strategy worked.'Walden International went on to invest $5 billion in more than 600 companies across 12 countries, many of them niche semiconductor firms. For a decade and a half, he served on the board of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., now China's leading chipmaker. Since joining Intel as CEO in March, Tan has accelerated his divestments in Chinese technology companies. But he remains executive chairman of Walden International and also invests through Walden Catalyst Ventures, a venture arm focused on startups in the US, Europe and Israel. Through Sakarya Ltd., a Hong Kong-based firm wholly owned by Tan, and various Walden International entities, he has invested in at least 165 Chinese firms and startups, according to Chinese company data provider Qichacha.Bloomberg's estimate of Tan's fortune doesn't include Walden International as his personal involvement in the group's entities isn't disclosed.
Little sleep
During his time as Cadence's CEO from 2009 to 2021, the stock increased more than 4,000%. Tan sold in excess of $575 million of shares through the end of 2023, when he last reported sales. His disclosed ownership at the time of 1.5 million shares, or around 0.53% of the company, is worth about $500 million today. While running Cadence, he also kept his full-time position at Walden, acknowledging in the 2018 interview that he was someone who only needed four or five hours of sleep a night. He saw the roles as synergistic, with the tech investments helping to inform Cadence's direction at the time. 'I think it kind of goes hand in hand, helping the industry, and also, it's good for me for education,' he said. 'I never stop learning.'Tan stepped down as Cadence's CEO in 2021, taking on the role of executive chairman for next two years. He also joined Intel's board, though left in August 2024 after disagreements over the company's strategy and direction, according to published reports. He was named CEO in March, charged with reviving the chipmaker, which has struggled recently as computing migrated to smartphones and AI grew in importance.Tan, who has since rejoined Intel's board, owns roughly 1.2 million shares of Intel, with about 99% acquired after agreeing to become CEO, according to an offer letter from Intel. His pay package includes a salary of $1 million, plus a 200% performance-based bonus and $66 million in long-term equity awards and stock options, the company said in a filing. 'The United States has been my home for more than 40 years,' Tan wrote in the letter to employees following Trump's call for his resignation. 'I love this country and am profoundly grateful for the opportunities it has given me.' Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Tariffs, tantrums, and tech: How Trump's trade drama is keeping Indian IT on tenterhooks
How IDBI banker landed plush Delhi properties in Amtek's INR33k crore skimming
Good, bad, ugly: How will higher ethanol in petrol play out for you?
As big fat Indian wedding slims to budget, Manyavar loses lustre
Regulatory gray area makes investing in LVMH, BP tough For Indian retail
Logistics sector: Be tactical in the face of head & tailwinds; 6 logistics stocks with an upside potential of over 30%
Just hold a good business for the long term, irrespective of the noise; ignore the cap. 13 stocks with an upside potential of up to 51%
Stock picks of the week: 5 stocks with consistent score improvement and return potential of more than 25% in 1 year
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
9 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Trump says Xi assured him China won't invade Taiwan during his presidency
US President Donald Trump has said Chinese President Xi Jinping personally assured him that Beijing would not attempt to invade Taiwan while Trump remains in office. Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Trump recalled: 'He told me, 'I will never do it as long as you're president'. President Xi told me that and I said, 'Well, I appreciate that'. But he also said, 'I am very patient and China is very patient'.' The remarks came ahead of Trump's planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. According to Reuters, the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment following Trump's statements. The two leaders held their first confirmed call of Trump's second term in June, and Trump had earlier said in April that Xi had reached out to him by phone, though he did not specify the timing of that call. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has repeatedly vowed to achieve 'reunification' with the island, by force if necessary. Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. China has increased its military presence around Taiwan, with frequent warship and aircraft maneuvers, and regular violations of Taiwan's air defense zone. US officials have previously warned that China could quickly shift to a military blockade or assault if it chose. Although Washington is Taiwan's main security partner and arms supplier, the United States, like most countries, does not maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei. (With inputs from Reuters)
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
9 minutes ago
- Business Standard
EU push to protect digital rules holds up trade statement with US: Report
The European Union is trying to prevent the United States from targeting the bloc's digital rules as both sides work through the final details of a delayed statement to formalise a trade deal reached last month, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. EU officials said disagreements over language relating to "non-tariff barriers", which the US said include the digital rules, are among the reasons for the hold-up of the statement, the newspaper said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The European Union, the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Donald Trump, according to FT. The July deal imposed a 15 per cent import tariff on most EU goods - half the initially threatened rate - and helped avert a broader trade war between the two allies, who together account for nearly a third of global trade. The US wanted to keep the door open for possible concessions on the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which Washington says stifles free speech and imposes costs on US tech companies, according to FT, which added that the commission has said that relaxing these rules is a red line. The EU's DSA is a landmark law meant to make the online environment safer and fairer by compelling tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material. The commission had anticipated that Trump would sign an executive order by August 15 to cut tariffs on EU car exports to the US from 27.5 per cent to 15 per cent. However, a US official signaled that this would be delayed until the joint statement was finalised, according to FT.
India.com
9 minutes ago
- India.com
Big worry for India as Pakistan gets most advanced weapon from close friend China, weapon is…, is equipped with AIP technology...
Pakistan's close friend China has delivered the third of the eight new 'advanced' Hangor-class submarines to Pakistan as part of Beijing's efforts to upgrade Islamabad's naval strength to support its growing presence in the Indian Ocean, India's backyard. According to the state-run Global Times reports, the launching ceremony of the third Hangor-class submarine was conducted in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, on Thursday. It is to be noted that the second of the eight submarines China is building for Pakistan was handed over in March this year. What advanced weapon did Pakistan receive from China? This is in addition to four modern naval frigates that China has supplied to Pakistan in recent years in order to enhance Pakistan's naval strength, at a time when the Chinese navy is growing its presence in the Arabian Sea with the development of the Gwadar port in Balochistan and in the Indian Ocean. During the launch of the third submarine, Pakistan's Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Project-2 Vice Admiral Abdul Samad stated that the Hangor-class submarine's cutting-edge weaponry and advanced sensors would be instrumental in sustaining regional power equilibrium and ensuring maritime stability, the daily quoted a Pakistan defence statement as saying. A recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicates China supplied over 81 per cent of Pakistan's military hardware. According to the SIPRI database, Pakistan's main orders in the past five years have been the Rizwan, the country's first spy ship; more than 600 VT-4 battle tanks; and 36 J-10CE 4.5-generation fighters. In 2022, China delivered the first multi-role J-10CE fighter jets to the Pakistan Air Force, in addition to JF-17 fighters that both countries manufactured together. Pakistan reportedly used these fighter jets in a recent conflict against India. Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the Hangor-class submarine is characterised by its strong underwater combat capabilities, including comprehensive sensor systems, excellent stealth characteristics, high mobility, long endurance, and formidable firepower. Media reports indicate that these submarines are reportedly equipped have Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology, but there have been no official announcements from the Pakistani side yet. In contrast to India, the Indian Navy does not have AIP submarines, although it has two nuclear-powered submarines. DRDO has developed an indigenous AIP system under phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), which is under consideration to be installed on the INS Kalvari-class submarines. This AIP system has been formally approved, and it will take time before it is installed and operational.
