A Tale Of Two Changs

Morris, of course is the long-time Chairman, and occasional CEO, of the world's No.1 silicon foundry TSMC.

Richard founded two silicon foundries WSMC (Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation) and SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation).

Both of the chip industry's Changs did a lengthy stint at Texas Instruments. Morris was 25 years a TI-er ending up as group vp for the semiconductor business; Richard built six fabs for TI.

In 1997, after taking early retirement from TI, Richard returned to Taiwan. Though born in mainland China, his parents had gone to Taiwan with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek after President Mao Tse-Tung and his communist party took over China in 1949.

For Chang, who was not yet one year-old at the time, Taiwan was where he grew up.

In the year he returned to Taiwan, 1997, Richard Chang set up WSMC as a foundry competitor to TSMC. However, in 1999, before WSMC got going properly, it was bought out, against Chang's wishes, by TSMC.

Stung at being forcibly separated from WSMC, Richard Chang raised $1.6 billion from a group of US investors led by Goldman Sachs.

He looked around for a suitable place to set up another foundry company, and to build more fabs, and was offered a good deal by the mainland China government which had been trying, unsuccessfully, to spawn a semiconductor industry for a couple of decades.

The Taiwanese government immediately swung into action, saying it was illegal for Richard to raise money in Taiwan, then spend it on a business in China.

The Taiwanese government fined him NT$5m, and threatened Chang with confiscation of his assets in Taiwan if he went ahead with the plan to establish SMIC.

In 2000, however, Richard Chang, went ahead. He told people that he wasn't just thinking about making money, he wanted to: "Share God's love with the Chinese."

Chang, a devout Christian, thought the communists of China needed some spiritual succour.

He recruited a team of engineers from companies around the world, including engineers from TSMC, and set out to build fabs in Beijing and Shanghai.

In 2004, SMIC  IPO'd raising $1.8b billion and repaying his VC backers at a profit.

Meanwhile, TSMC had sued SMIC for infringement of trade secrets and the case rumbled on for years before, reportedly, being settled earlier this week in a deal which involves SMIC paying $200m to TSMC.

Also, this week, Richard Chang resigned from SMIC.

Clearly Morris' interventions have not been helpful to the aspirations of his namesake.

Is it, one wonders, just business? Or is it personal?