Trump calls on Intel boss to resign

Further turbulence is brewing at Intel: US President Donald Trump has gotten wind of the Chinese contacts of current Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. On his own social media platform, Trump demanded the immediate resignation of the Intel boss without waiting for answers or an investigation.

The reason for this is Tan's connections to China. Among other things, he owns the investment company Walden International, which also invests in Chinese companies with contacts to the Chinese military. These connections recently came to a head again in a Reuters report, according to which Lip-Bu Tan is said to have invested at least 200 million US dollars in hundreds of Chinese companies and funds. It is unclear how much of this is still in the companies and funds today.

The report prompted Republican Senator Tim Cotton to write to the Intel board about a possible conflict of interest. In it, Cotton also notes a case involving Cadence, one of the world's three largest developers of electronic design automation (EDA) tools. Cadence has admitted to supplying the Chinese National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) with EDA tools for years, even though the university has been subject to a US embargo since 2015 due to ties to the Chinese military.

This was done via third-party companies from 2015 to 2020, when Tan was CEO of Cadence. The EDA tools provided are said to have been worth around 45 million US dollars. Cadence will pay a fine of over 140 million US dollars. Cotton's letter in turn apparently caught Trump's attention.

Connections to China had long been known

However, the connections have been known for at least two years. In July 2023, the Special Committee of the House of Representatives on the Chinese Communist Party officially sent a letter to Tan asking for clarification. At the time, he was a member of the Intel board.

Tan was born in Malaysia and holds US citizenship. It was precisely because of his Asian contacts that Tan was offered the position of Intel CEO. His job is to find customers for the chip manufacturing division Intel Foundry.

In April, Reuters quoted Bernstein analyst Stacey Rasgon: Tan "was at the top of my list and on the lists of most investors who wanted him. He's a legend and has been around forever".

Turbulent times

At the end of 2024, Intel's board of directors dismissed the then CEO Pat Gelsinger, whereupon CFO David Zinsner and Head of Product Michelle Johnston Holthaus temporarily took over the CEO duties. Lip-Bu Tan has been at the helm of Intel since March 2025, accompanied by mass layoffs and discontinued projects. Another change of CEO would increase the uncertainty.

The previous CEO Pat Gelsinger already emphasized that the Chinese market is large and important for Intel. In April 2024, he said that Intel should sell as many products as possible to China. On the one hand for sales, and on the other hand, too many restrictions could boost China's own developments if the country focuses on them.

(mma)