U.S. chip giant Intel (INTC, Financial) has announced the appointment of Chen Liwu as the new CEO, effective March 18. This follows a series of leadership upheavals. Chen will succeed interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus and rejoin Intel's board. Zinsner will continue as Executive Vice President and CFO, while Holthaus will remain as Product Executive.

With this appointment, all four major U.S. semiconductor companies—NVIDIA (NVDA), AMD (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), and Intel—are now led by individuals of Chinese descent. In a message to his team, Chen emphasized his commitment to overcoming challenges and his confidence in Intel's ability to recover and reclaim its global status.

According to reports, Chen was born in 1959 in a Malaysian Chinese family and grew up in Singapore. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Nanyang Technological University, a master's in nuclear engineering from MIT, and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. In 2022, he received the prestigious Robert Noyce Award from the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Chen has nearly 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, having served as CEO of Cadence from 2009 to 2021. Under his leadership, Cadence saw revenues double, profit margins expand, and stock prices surge by over 3,200%, with a current valuation exceeding $65 billion.

Beyond his corporate leadership, Chen is well-known in venture capital, earning the title "Venture Capital Godfather." In 1987, he founded Walden International, focusing on semiconductor, network, and clean energy startups in the U.S. and Asia, managing over $3 billion and investing in more than 500 companies, including over 120 semiconductor firms. One of his most notable investments is in SMIC, which successfully listed on the STAR Market in 2020 under his guidance.

A key element of Chen's investment philosophy is his commitment to long-term value investing, a principle that led him to maintain his board position at SMIC for 18 years, despite others stepping down.

I/We may personally own shares in some of the companies mentioned above. However, those positions are not material to either the company or to my/our portfolios.