Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM, Financials) founder Morris Chang offered Nvidia’s (NVDA, Financials) Jensen Huang the chief executive position at the Taiwanese chip giant over a decade ago, but Huang declined the offer within 10 minutes, according to Chang’s newly published autobiography.
Chang, 93, relates the story in the biography published on Friday, covering his life from 1964 until 2018. Leading Nvidia from its inception, Huang informed Chang, “I already have a job.”
Chang recalls a lengthy connection with Huang, who has guided California-based Nvidia to rank among the most valuable businesses in the world among growing artificial intelligence interest. Huang stayed close to Chang, who commended him for Nvidia’s achievements, even though he turned down the post at TSMC.
Chang saw Huang as a perfect replacement in 2013 because of his semiconductor knowledge and business background. Chang said, “I spent about 10 minutes concisely explaining my deep expectations for TSMC.” Listening but turning away, Huang said, “I already have a job.” Several weeks later Chang tried once again, but Huang remained dedicated to Nvidia.
Chang also relates that Huang gambled substantially on TSMC when Nvidia sought a manufacturing partner. When Nvidia was short-staffed in 1998, TSMC sent two manufacturing staff members to assist the firm at a crucial period.
The book also details Chang’s 1980s quest to raise money for TSMC, including a meeting with Intel’s (INTC, Financials) then-CEO Gordon Moore. Intel turned down to invest, but later on it contracted TSMC to make CPUs for its newest models, according to a Reuters report, citing the memoir.
Since 2021, Chang noted, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has worked on turning Intel into a foundry player. Chang, however, had doubts about the strategy, pointing up Intel’s long-standing internal chip manufacturing methodology as a possible barrier.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
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