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Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump says Intel CEO has an ‘amazing story' days after calling for his resignation
Trump said on the Truth Social platform Thursday that, 'The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!' Advertisement Tan was named Intel CEO in March and it is unclear if he has divested his interests in the chip companies. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Tan said in a message to employees that there was misinformation circulating about his past roles at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems and said that he'd 'always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards.' After a Monday meeting with Tan at the White House, Trump backed off his demand that Tan resign without hesitation. 'I met with Mr. Lip-Bu Tan, of Intel, along with Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. 'The meeting was a very interesting one. His success and rise is an amazing story. Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Advertisement Shares of Intel gained 3.5% Tuesday The economic and political rivalry between the U.S. and China are increasingly focused on computer chips, AI and other digital technologies that are expected to shape future economies and military conflicts.
Epoch Times
a day ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
Intel ‘Engaging With' White House After Trump Calls for CEO to Resign Over China Portfolio
Intel's new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, a long-term chip executive and prolific investor, came under scrutiny for his investments in China's largest chip companies. Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Aug. 7 said the company is engaging with the Trump administration after President Donald Trump called for Tan's resignation over his alleged ties to Chinese companies with military backgrounds. Tan, a chip veteran and prolific investor, took the reins of Intel in March as the embattled chipmaker tries to regain territory from its competitors. Trump on Aug. 7 called for Tan's immediate resignation, after Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) raised concerns over Tan's history of investing in Chinese companies, including those with alleged ties to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), via Walden International; and over his tenure at Cadence Design Systems, which pleaded guilty in July to unauthorized selling of controlled chip design tools to a Chinese military university between 2015 and 2021, when Tan was CEO of the company. Story continues below advertisement In a statement , Tan said he 'fully share[s] the President's commitment to advancing U.S. national and economic security.' The executive said that there has been 'a lot of misinformation' about his past roles at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems, and that Intel is 'engaging with the Administration to address the matters that have been raised and ensure they have the facts.' In a separate statement , Intel said the company, its board of directors, and Tan are 'deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President's America First agenda.' Tan, 65, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is an ethnic Chinese born in Malaysia. He was educated in Singapore and the United States and has been a U.S. resident for more than 40 years. The long-term tech investor sat on the board of Intel for two years before stepping down in August 2024. He rejoined the board and was appointed CEO in March. Story continues below advertisement As founder and chairman of Walden International, a California-based venture capital firm that described itself as 'one of the pioneers in venture investing in China,' he was also a board member of multiple Chinese companies, including state-backed chipmakers Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC), and tech conglomerate Sina. SMIC, a partially state-owned semiconductor foundry company, was blacklisted by multiple U.S. departments, including the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), as a Chinese military company. According to a July 2020 statement , Tan, who, at the time, had been a SMIC board member for 18 years, said Walden International was 'the founding shareholder and close partner of SMIC at its founding in 2000.' Walden no longer holds a stake in SMIC. AMEC, also partially state-owned, was designated by the DOD as a Chinese military company in 2021 and removed from the list in December 2024. Story continues below advertisement Tan was an AMEC board member between February 2005 and April 2020, his LinkedIn profile shows. According to Wirescreen , which provides open-source intelligence on companies' links to China, Tony Zhang, a managing partner of Walden International, is currently on the board of AMEC. In a report published in 2024, the House Select Committee on CCP, which investigated five U.S. venture capital firms, including Walden International, said U.S. investments had been 'critical to the early growth and success' of some of China's 'largest and most notorious AI and semiconductor companies, many of which are now blacklisted by the U.S. government over national security concerns,' and many of which are backed by the Chinese regime. According to the report, SMIC, China's largest chip foundry, and its affiliates, received $125 million in early investment from Walden. Story continues below advertisement The committee said the firms have also invested in Chinese companies that are blacklisted by the U.S. government for supporting genocide or other human rights abuses or for supporting the Chinese military. It's unclear whether Walden has divested from these companies. Intel and the White House did not respond to The Epoch Times's request for comment by publication time.
News18
2 days ago
- Business
- News18
Why Trump Wants Intel CEO To Step Down, Who Is Lip-Bu Tan?
Lip-Bu Tan, a semiconductor industry veteran born in Malaysia, has built a distinguished career as an executive, investor, and innovator. US President Donald Trump has asked for the resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan following reports of his alleged ties to China. 'The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!" Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump's demand came just days after Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton raised concerns and pressed the chair of Intel's board over the CEO's alleged connections to China, questioning the integrity of the company and its impact on US national security. The statement tumbled Intel's stock more than 3% in premarket trading the following day as investors grappled with the political pressure on one of America's semiconductor giants. Who Is Lip-Bu Tan? Lip-Bu Tan, a semiconductor industry veteran born in Malaysia, has built a distinguished career as an executive, investor, and innovator. Tam holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Nanyang University in Singapore and a master's degree in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also pursued an MBA from the University of San Francisco, according to his LinkedIn profile. In 1987, Tan founded a venture capital firm, Walden International, which focused on investments in technology startups across Asia and the US. His expertise in semiconductors led to his long tenure at Cadence Design Systems, where he served as CEO from 2008 to 2021 and as executive chairman from 2021 until May 2023. Last week, Cadence Design agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $140 million to resolve charges for selling its chip design products to a Chinese military university, as reported by Reuters. The institution was believed to be involved in simulating nuclear blasts. Tan joined Intel's board in 2022 and was appointed as the chief executive officer following the departure of previous CEO Pat Gelsinger. What Triggered The Resignation Demand? The demand for Tan's ouster was ignited by a letter dated August 5, 2025, from Republican Senator Tom Cotton to Intel's board chairman Frank Yeary, raising concerns over Tan's extensive ties to Chinese technology firms. At the heart of the controversy are Tan's longstanding investments in China, which critics argue pose national security risks. Through Walden International, Tan has backed hundreds of Chinese tech startups, including those in AI and semiconductors, some of which have been flagged by the US Treasury for connections to China's military-civil fusion strategy. Compounding these concerns is Cadence Design Systems' recent legal troubles under Tan's prior leadership. In the letter, the senator stated that Tan controls over dozens of Chinese companies and has a stake in hundreds of Chinese advanced-manufacturing and chip firms, of which at least eight are reportedly tied to the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Cotton underlined that illegal activities that occurred in the Cadence Design Systems took place during Tan's tenure and demanded proof that Tan had fully divested from these holdings, especially given Intel's receipt of USD 8 billion in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to bolster domestic semiconductor production. US citizens can legally hold stakes in Chinese firms, even those linked to the military, unless the companies appear on the US Treasury's Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List, which bans such investments. According to Reuters, the news agency found no evidence that Tan held direct stakes in any firm on that list. The next day, Trump amplified these concerns on Truth Social, declaring Tan 'highly CONFLICTED" and calling for his immediate resignation. In a note to Intel employees on August 7, Tan rebutted the allegations, asserting that he has 'always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards" and emphasising his commitment to the US, where he has lived and worked for decades. Tan addressed the 'misinformation" surrounding his investments, clarifying that he had divested from conflicting interests upon joining Intel and vowing to continue leading the company through its 'critical moment" in innovation and manufacturing. Tan also mentioned ongoing discussions with the Trump administration to clarify facts, underscoring Intel's dedication to American interests amid the scrutiny. 'We are engaging with the Administration to address the matters that have been raised and ensure they have the facts," Tan said. 'I fully share the President's commitment to advancing US national and economic security, I appreciate his leadership to advance these priorities, and I'm proud to lead a company that is so central to these goals," he added. 'Intel, the Board of Directors, and Lip-Bu Tan are deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President's America First agenda," Intel said in a statement. About the Author Surbhi Pathak Surbhi Pathak, subeditor, writes on India, world affairs, science, and education. She is currently dabbling with lifestyle content. Follow her on X: @S_Pathak_11. Get Latest Updates on Movies, Breaking News On India, World, Live Cricket Scores, And Stock Market Updates. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : donald trump Intel view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 10, 2025, 11:12 IST News explainers Why Trump Wants Intel CEO To Step Down, Who Is Lip-Bu Tan? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Malaysian Reserve
3 days ago
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Intel CEO dogged by decades of China chip bets, board work
FOR more than three decades, Lip-Bu Tan invested in the Chinese economic boom, placing the kind of no-brainer bets that enriched venture capitalists and fund managers around the world and across the US. He set up a venture firm called Walden International based in San Francisco that pumped more than $5 billion into over 600 companies. More than 100 of those investments were made in China, including deals with once-obscure startups such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. — today China's largest chipmaker — where he served on the board for a decade and a half. In recent years, as US-China tensions escalated, Washington increasingly restricted Beijing's access to advanced technology and placed tighter limits on the ability of US companies to do business there. And Tan's efforts to distance himself from Chinese investments accelerated with his appointment at Intel Corp. in March, when he agreed to divest his holdings there, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. That hasn't stopped US lawmakers — and, now, Donald Trump — from holding Tan's past Chinese affiliations against him. The US president called the executive 'highly conflicted' in a social media post and urged him to resign. Intel has said Tan and the board are 'deeply committed to advancing US national and economic security interests.' Late on Thursday, Tan said he's got the full backing of the company's board, responding for the first time to Trump. 'We are engaging with the Administration to address the matters that have been raised and ensure they have the facts,' he said in a letter to staff posted on Intel's website. Here's what we know about Tan's business dealings in China. He started work at a venture capital firm in the 1980s called Walden Ventures, where he helped create a spinoff named Walden International that focused on overseas opportunities. Tan, a Mandarin speaker born in Malaysia, helped the company make investments all over East Asia, including China. He pushed some of Walden's funds into the then-unfashionable area of chip investing. Most venture capitalists had moved away from the industry, figuring that it was impossible to challenge giants such as Intel with startup money. But Tan played those odds. Today, the executive is still chairman of Walden International. And he's the founding managing partner at Walden Catalyst Ventures, which focuses on investments in the US, Europe and Israel. He also serves in that role at another venture fund, Celesta Global Capital. Tan and Walden have faced scrutiny for China-related investments before. In 2023, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent Walden a letter expressing concerns and seeking more information on the types of companies and amount of investments made there. Headquartered in Shanghai, SMIC was founded in 2000 as an early attempt to bring advanced chip-making to China. Walden International was one of the big investors when the startup raised $630 million from a group of venture firms in 2003. Tan was a director on SMIC's board until 2018. The Chinese company, whose customers at one time included Qualcomm Inc., is attempting to break into the outsourced chip production business dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. In 2020, that effort took a serious blow when the US Commerce Department put SMIC on the so-called entity list, citing ties with the Chinese military. That means businesses need licenses to supply the Chinese company with technology. The move effectively cut it off from crucial US vendors. Today, it's a key partner to major Chinese sector players including Huawei Technologies Co. Tan stepped out of the venture world and joined the chip industry full-time when he became interim head of San Jose, California-based Cadence Design Systems Inc. in 2008. The executive, who had previously served on the board, went on to take the permanent CEO job the next year. He stayed in the role until 2021, when he transitioned to executive chairman, and is widely credited with restoring the company's fortunes. In late July of this year, the Department of Justice announced a plea deal that cost Cadence more than $100 million in fines. Employees at Cadence's China unit allegedly hid the name of a customer — the National University of Defense Technology — from internal compliance in order to keep supplying it. That organization had been put on the Department of Commerce's blacklist in 2015. The Chinese university was one of a group of supercomputer operators there that had conducted simulations of nuclear explosions, the DOJ said. Cadence got a 20% reduction of the statutory maximum fine because of its partial cooperation with the investigation, according to the DOJ's statement, which didn't mention Tan. Still, his connection to the company was cited this week by US Senator Tom Cotton, who wrote to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary questioning whether what happened at Cadence under Tan's tenure makes him fit for his current job. Tan spent time on the boards of other Chinese companies, such as Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. But he doesn't, according to Bloomberg data, currently serve on a board of any company based in that country. Though Walden International has invested in more than 100 Chinese companies over the years, that involvement has been scaled back, according to PitchBook. Walden International, Walden Catalyst Ventures and Celesta now just have stakes in a handful of companies based in China, including Hong Kong, the site shows. –BLOOMBERG
AllAfrica
4 days ago
- Business
- AllAfrica
'You're fired!': Trump tells Intel boss to resign over China ties
Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan was told by US President Donald Trump to step down after a chip design software firm he managed pleaded guilty to violating US export controls. 'The Chief Executive of Intel is highly conflicted and must resign, immediately,' Trump posted on Truth Social on August 7. 'There is no other solution to this problem.' The comments followed a letter sent by US Senator Tom Cotton to Intel chairman Frank Yeary on August 5, expressing concern about the security and integrity of Intel's operations and their potential impact on US national security. Cotton pointed out that Cadence, an electronic design automation (EDA) software maker, pleaded guilty on July 28 to illegally selling its products to a Chinese military university and transferring its technology to an associated Chinese semiconductor company without obtaining licenses. 'These illegal activities occurred under Tan's tenure,' Cotton said in his letter. He added that the US government awarded approximately $8 billion to Intel under the CHIPS and Science Act, while the company is required to be a responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and comply with applicable security regulations. He said Tan's associations with China raise questions about Intel's ability to fulfill these obligations. He asked Intel's board to explain whether: It was aware of Cadence's subpoenas before hiring Tan as Chief Executive; It required Tan to divest from his positions in semiconductor firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or the People's Liberation Army (PLA); Tan disclosed any remaining investments, professional roles, or ties to Chinese companies to the US government. Tan sent a note to all Intel employees on August 7 stating that there has been a lot of misinformation circulating about his past roles at Walden International and Cadence. '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,' he says in the note. 'My reputation has been built on trust – on doing what I say I'll do, and doing it the right way. This is the same way I am leading Intel,' he adds. 'We are engaging with the [Trump] Administration to address the matters that have been raised and ensure they have the facts.' Tan, dubbed the 'Godfather of the chip industry,' was born into a Malaysian Chinese family in 1959. He grew up in Singapore and later became an American. His father was the chief writer of Nanyang Siang Pau, and his mother was a dormitory warden at Nanyang University (now Nanyang Technological University) in Singapore. Tan was admitted to the Department of Physics at Nanyang University at the age of 16. After studying nuclear engineering at America's elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he pursued a degree in business administration at the University of San Francisco. In 1987, he founded Walden International with an initial management fund of $3 million, focusing on early-stage technology investments. According to Chinese media, Walden International began investing in Chinese startups in 1994, starting with Little Swan, a washing machine manufacturer, and subsequently investing in numerous other companies, including Skyworth, DJI, Meituan and Mindray. In 2000, Walden International financed Taiwanese entrepreneur Zhang Rujing in founding the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC). 'Over the past 20 years, every time SMIC overcame adversity and achieved every process breakthrough, Walden International has been with SMIC, standing by it through thick and thin and providing its full support,' Tan says in an article when SMIC went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market in July 2020. He praised SMIC for having advanced its products from 250 nanometers to 14 nm within two decades. He also said Walden International had invested in more than 500 companies globally, including 120 semiconductor firms. Among these, 110 companies went public. In 2009, he set up Sakarya Limited and Seine Limited in Hong Kong to manage his investments in China. In 2011, Walden International, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Shanghai government established Shanghai Huaxin Venture Capital Enterprise, one of the first funds in China dedicated to the country's semiconductor industry. 'I am an overseas Chinese and have always had a Chinese complex,' he told in an interview in 2018. 'Although Cadence is an American company, within the scope allowed by the US government, we will help domestic [Chinese] companies in tools and intellectual property as much as possible.' In April 2025, Reuters reported that Tan controls more than 40 Chinese companies and funds, and has minority stakes in over 600 via his investment firms. While investing in China, Tan joined Cadence's board in 2004 and was the company's Chief Executive from 2009 to 2021. At the CDNLive 2018 conference, Xia Yu, director of Huawei HiSilicon Platform and Key Technology Development Department, complained about the slow development of Cadence's Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) software. 'We like to work with customers like HiSilicon. They run fast themselves, and they push us to run fast too,' Tan said. At that time, Trump, in his first term, had not yet sanctioned Huawei Technologies, HiSilicon, and SMIC. Chinese fabless chipmakers could freely order chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. On July 28, the US Justice Department announced that Cadence agreed to plead guilty and pay over $140 million in fines for unlawfully selling EDA hardware, software, and semiconductor design intellectual property (IP) technology to the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT). NUDT, a university under the leadership of the People's Republic of China (PRC)'s Central Military Commission, was added to the US Commerce Department's Entity List in February 2015 due to its use of US-origin components to produce supercomputers believed to support nuclear explosive simulation and military simulation activities in the PRC. According to court documents, Cadence and its units in China violated US export controls by providing EDA tools to NUDT from February 2015 to April 2021. Tan stepped down as Cadence's Chief Executive in December 2021 and Chairman in May 2023. In July 2023, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the US and the CCP wrote to Tan , expressing serious concern about Walden International's investments in Chinese artificial intelligence and chip firms. In February 2024, the Select Committee on the CCP published a report about how Walden and four other US venture capital funds helped fuel the Chinese military and human rights abuses in China. Despite all these disputes, Tan became Intel's chief executive on March 18 this year. Most Chinese media and pundits have praised Tan for his new position. They said Chinese people feel proud that 'Chinese faces' (Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, Hock Tan, and Lip-Bu Tan) are now controlling four US chip giants (Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Intel, respectively). Huang and Su were born in Taiwan, while Hock Tan hails from Malaysia. Read: US senators sound alarm on DeepSeek's security risks
