The Star Daily reported on March 13 (Reporter Guo Hui, Huang Xinyi) today, $Intel (INTC.US)$ After a series of management upheavals, the appointment of Chen Liwu as the new CEO of the company has been announced. This appointment officially takes effect from March 18. As of the time of publication, Intel's stock rose nearly 18%, marking the largest increase since March 2020.

Chen Liwu will replace the current interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus. Chen Liwu will also rejoin Intel's Board of Directors.

David Zinsner will continue to serve as Intel's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, while Michelle (MJ) Johnston Holthaus will continue as Intel's Chief Product Officer. Frank D. Yeary, who has served as interim Board Chair during the search for a new CEO, will return to serve as the independent Board Chair after Chen Liwu takes over as CEO.

Thus, including $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ 、 $Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$ 、 $Broadcom (AVGO.US)$ 以及 $Intel (INTC.US)$ 在内的美国四大半导体巨头CEO职务，均由华人担任。而陈立武能否像其他几位业界同仁一样，带领英特尔完成公司在新一周期的业务转向跟深刻变革，成为此次任命的最大看点。

Chen Liwu himself has extensive investment and management experience in the Semiconductor industry in China, including having served as.$SMIC (00981.HK)$member of the Board of Directors and is regarded as the "Intel CEO who understands the Chinese semiconductor market the most" in history. Under his leadership, how Intel strengthens its industrial cooperation and asset investment in the Chinese market in the future is also worth paying attention to.

Chen Liwu stated in his message to all employees that he will not shy away from challenges and firmly believes that Intel has the capability to achieve victory and confidence to reverse the current situation. He will work with employees to restore Intel's status as a world-class product company. Additionally, under his tenure as CEO, Intel will become a company focused on engineering, and serving customers first will be Intel's top priority.

Intel has appointed a former director of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, who was once known as the "godfather of venture capital."

In fact, even before this official appointment, there were rumors in the market that Intel's CEO position was being considered for its former Director Chen Liwu. This decision was officially announced three months after the departure of former CEO Pat Gelsinger.

Why is Chen Liwu the only choice for Intel?

Looking back at history, his extensive experience in the Semiconductor Industry, including wafer fabs, EDA, and IP, a long-term asset investment philosophy, and a unique insight in discovering project value from an innovative starting point became crucial reasons for Chen Liwu to stand out.

Public information shows that Chen Liwu was born in 1959 in a Chinese family in Malaysia, grew up in Singapore, entered Nanyang Technological University in Singapore at the age of 16 to obtain a bachelor's degree in physics, and went to the USA in 1978 to earn a master's degree in nuclear engineering from MIT and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. In 2022, he was awarded the Semiconductor Industry Association's highest honor, the Robert Noyce Award.

Chen Liwu has nearly 20 years of experience in the Semiconductors industry and served as the CEO from 2009 to 2021. $Cadence Design Systems (CDNS.US)$ As a globally renowned EDA design tool and IP service provider, under Chen Liwu's past management and operation, Cadence doubled its revenue, expanded its operating profit margin, and its stock price increased by over 3200%, with its latest Market Cap exceeding 65 billion USD.

Chen Liwu's more senior experience is evidently in the venture capital field, where he is also known as the 'Venture Capital Godfather'. In 1987, Chen Liwu founded the venture capital firm Walden International, focusing on investments in Semiconductor, Internet, and New energy start-ups in the USA and Asian markets.

Under his leadership, the Walden International team managed a cumulative capital exceeding 3 billion USD, investing in over 500 companies globally, among which more than 120 are Semiconductor companies.

The most renowned investment project of Chen Liwu is $SMIC (00981.HK)$ In 2020, as a founding shareholder and Director, he led Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation to successfully list on the Star Board, making it the first red-chip company to have both 'A+H' shares, breaking the IPO financing scale record in the A-share market over the past decade.

From Chen Liwu's experience, insisting on long-term value investment is his most important investment philosophy. Chen Liwu stated that due to long cycles and other factors, many investors withdrew from the board seats of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, but he persisted, believing that the future of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation is promising; he became the only Director who has remained unchanged for 18 years when Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation returned to A shares in 2020.

In addition, $China Resources Microelectronics (688396.SH)$、$Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China (688012.SH)$、$Acm Research(Shanghai),Inc. (688082.SH)$、$Verisilicon Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (688521.SH)$、$GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. (603986.SH)$、$GalaxyCore Inc. (688728.SH)$、$Amlogic (688099.SH)$The well-known semiconductor listed companies on the Star, are all investment projects of Waden International at the beginning. It can be said that under Chen Liwu's unique insight, a large semiconductor industry in China was created through venture capital.

Chen Liwu previously stated in an article that the art of investment lies in 'seeing.' 'In 2000, when Zhang Rujing and his team wanted to establish a chip manufacturing plant in China, we 'saw' the emerging trend of local wafer factories in China and the ambitious aspirations of the startup team; in 2004, when Yin Zhiyao's team went to Silicon Valley in the USA to raise funds, we 'saw'$Shenzhen China Micro Semicon (688380.SH)$As an emerging international equipment manufacturer, it is expected to break through among the industry giants of high-end semiconductor equipment and ultimately become a giant in integrated circuit equipment based in Asia.

Chen Liwu has stated that in the exceptionally booming semiconductor entrepreneurship and technology investment market in China, a comprehensive and clear understanding and insight are needed, along with a global perspective that transcends cycles. The essence of investment is that the greatest principles are simple; it is important to choose to walk with like-minded individuals, and time is the best friend that brings the most beautiful and generous gifts.

Goal: Restore Intel's world-class status.

After officially announcing the appointment as the new CEO, Chen Liwu expressed in a letter to all Intel employees that he is confident in turning the business situation around. When he was preparing to join, he believed there was a truly unique opportunity to reshape the company at one of the most critical moments in its history.

"This doesn't mean it will be easy. It won't. But I am joining because I firmly believe we have the ability to win. Intel plays a crucial role in the technology ecosystem in the USA and globally. I believe that as long as we work together, we can turn our situation around."

Chen Liwu stated that under his leadership, Intel will become a company focused on engineering. "We will push ourselves to develop the best products, listen carefully to our customers' opinions, and be accountable for our commitments, thus building trust."

Chen Liwu said he follows a simple philosophy: stay humble, work hard, and please our customers. "When you anchor yourself to these three core beliefs, good things will happen. Every job I've done has been like this and as the Chief Executive Officer of Intel, I will approach my future work in this manner."

Chen Liwu emphasized that the most important thing is the unity of the company. "The most lasting lesson I learned during my college years as an athlete was to believe in and trust my teammates, as I knew this was the most reliable path to victory. This is the mindset everyone needs to have in building Intel's winning culture."

He also stated that as CEO he will empower leaders with autonomy and take action to drive the business forward. "In many ways, we are the founders of the 'new Intel.' We will learn from the mistakes of the past, use setbacks to strengthen our resolve, choose action over distraction, and fully unleash our potential."

Chen Liwu claimed he will work with employees to restore Intel's position as a world-class product company, making it a world-class foundry**, and delighting customers in unprecedented ways. "This is the moment our transformation of Intel's future demands of us. We also have a responsibility to serve our shareholders - I am equally concerned about this and expect it to be the result of our renewed focus on customers."

How will Intel's CEO, who understands the Chinese Semiconductors market best, act in the future?

Chen Liwu's formal connection with Intel began in 2022 when he joined the Board of Directors and was elected as a Director, but just two years later (August 2024) he left abruptly. At that time, there were rumors in the market that Chen Liwu's resignation was due to a management disagreement with Intel's then-CEO Kissinger.

In December 2024, Pat Kissinger, who had worked at Intel for 33 years, resigned. During Pat Kissinger's nearly three years as CEO, Intel had "fallen from grace," failing to successfully develop its foundry business, and the market cap dropped by approximately 150 billion dollars, while the company fell into record losses with an annual loss amounting to 18.8 billion dollars.

After taking the helm at Intel, Chen Liwu will face the daunting challenge of transforming Intel in a quagmire.

Under Chen Liwu's leadership, whether Intel will continue to invest resources to develop its chip foundry business or simplify its goals by accelerating the divestment of its foundry operations, and even further sell off other departments of Intel, has become the biggest focus in the industry and market.

In any case, the Chinese market has always been one of Intel's strategic focuses. With the booming AI applications, computing cluster construction, and the growth trend of personal Consumer Electronics in China, Intel has already initiated a series of adjustments this year to regain the confidence of customers in the Chinese market.

On February 27 of this year, Intel announced the appointment of Wang Zhicong as the newly established Vice Chairman of Intel China. Wang Zhicong will be fully responsible for managing Intel China's business operation, reporting directly to Wang Rui, Senior Vice President of Intel and Chairman of Intel China.

Wang Rui stated, "This appointment will further enhance Intel China's management team and deepen the Intel China 2.0 strategy, providing stronger support for industry partners and our customers in China."

Chen Liwu has deep connections with many leading companies in China's semiconductor industry, and how he will further deepen mutual trust cooperation with domestic industries, as well as whether Intel will increase its asset investments in China in the future, is also worthy of attention.

Currently, several domestic semiconductor companies are closely collaborating with Intel.

$Montage Technology (688008.SH)$Previously collaborated with Intel on the Jindai CPU project, sourcing products from Intel. The Jindai server platform is a local server platform solution designed by Montage Technology for the Chinese market, including the Jindai CPU and hybrid secure memory modules (HSDIMM).

$Chipsea Technologies(Shenzhen)Corp.,Ltd (688595.SH)$Previously signed a memorandum of cooperation with Intel, aimed at promoting the construction of the local PC supply chain in China, fostering innovation in the PC product ecosystem, accelerating the promotion of terminal products from ecosystem partners in the Greater Bay Area, and supporting the development of emerging industries in the Greater Bay Area.

Editor/rice