TSMC Founder, Autobiography Content
Close Like Maurice Chang and Jenson Huang Father and Son
Morris Chang (張忠謀·Jang Jung-mou), the founder of the world's largest foundry TSMC, revealed in his autobiography that he once offered the position of TSMC CEO to Jensen Huang, the founder of Nvidia, but was rejected. Morris Chang and Jensen Huang are known to be very close, almost like father and son.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is answering reporters' questions at a global media briefing held on March 18 (local time) at the Signia by Hilton Hotel in San Jose, California, USA. Photo by Yonhap News.
On the 29th (local time), Chang published his autobiography titled ‘Morris Chang Autobiography’. News had surfaced earlier this month that before the publication, he had considered appointing Huang as TSMC CEO, which became a hot topic. With the release, the detailed process was disclosed.
According to the autobiography, when Chang was 82 years old in 2013, he asked Huang if he was interested in taking over TSMC. Chang had stepped down as CEO once in 2005 but returned in 2009 during the Lehman Brothers crisis to stabilize the company. After appointing current TSMC chairman Wei Zhejia (魏哲家·C.C Wei) and former chairman Liu Deyin (劉德音·Mark Liu) as Chief Operating Officers (COO) in 2012, he approached Huang to ask if he was willing to lead TSMC.
In the autobiography, Chang wrote, "I conveyed my expectation for him to lead TSMC for 10 minutes, but Huang CEO politely declined, saying ‘I already have a job.’ He responded very sincerely, and with that ‘job,’ he has brought Nvidia to its current position."
Chang is considered a benefactor of Nvidia. In the 1990s, when Nvidia was a small startup struggling to find a manufacturer, Chang personally called Huang to secure a contract, a well-known anecdote. Since then, TSMC and Nvidia have maintained a close relationship for nearly 30 years. Huang has also repeatedly expressed his respect, saying, "Chang is like a father to me, and without TSMC, Nvidia would not exist."
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