- Silicon Valley veteran and the brand new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has invested tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into Chinese language firms, Reuters reported. A few of the Chinese language firms Tan backed have hyperlinks to the Chinese language navy. Tan has invested in tons of of Chinese language firms via Walden Worldwide and holding firms Seine and Sakaytra.
Intel’s new CEO Lip-Bu Tan invested a minimum of $200 million into Chinese language companies between 2012 and 2024, together with a minimum of eight tied to the Individuals’s Liberation Military, in accordance with a Reuters report.
Tan leads an organization that has a $3 billion contract with the Division of Protection to fabricate chips, together with two different DoD contracts. His earlier investments have raised considerations amid souring U.S.-China relations.
“The straightforward reality is that Mr. Tan is unqualified to function the top of any firm competing in opposition to China, not to mention one with precise intelligence and nationwide safety ramifications like Intel and its great legacy connection to all areas of America’s intelligence and the protection ecosystem,” Bastille Ventures associate Andrew King informed Reuters.
Intel didn’t return Fortune’s request for remark. However a spokesperson for Tan informed Reuters that he accomplished a questionnaire that requires disclosure of any potential conflicts of curiosity.
In the course of the first few months of the Trump administration, President Donald Trump and Chinese language President Xi Jinping have exchanged jabs within the type of tariffs: U.S. tariffs on China now stand at 145%, whereas China’s tariffs on the U.S. are at present 125%.
Intel is the one U.S.-based producer of probably the most superior laptop chips. And Tan is one in all Silicon Valley’s most tenured buyers in Chinese language tech.
He was additionally thought of a Goldilocks decide to revive the corporate, and initially cheered by buyers when he was named as Intel’s new CEO.
Whereas having Intel helmed by somebody investing in Chinese language firms would possibly ring alarm bells for some, Elon Musk has his fingers in each tech and the federal government as Tesla CEO and an adviser to President Donald Trump. Actually, Tesla has its largest manufacturing facility in China, which is chargeable for producing half of the corporate’s vehicles globally.
“In fact there could also be some national-security considerations right here, however it doesn’t appear to hassle the U.S. that Elon Musk, a key participant within the present administration, has a serious funding in China,” Santa Clara regulation faculty professor Stephen Diamond informed Fortune.
For his half, Tan made investments via Walden Worldwide, a San Francisco-based venture-capital agency he based within the Eighties, together with Sakarya Restricted and Seine Restricted, two holdings firms in Hong Kong.
Between March 2012 and December 2024, Tan injected at $200 million into tons of of Chinese language superior manufacturing and chips firms, a few of which have been contractors and suppliers for the Individuals’s Liberation Military, in accordance with Reuters.
Tan additionally controls greater than 40 Chinese language firms and funds whereas holding a minority stake in over 600 others. In lots of instances, his minority possession comes alongside stakes held by Chinese language authorities entities, eight of that are tied to Beijing’s navy, in accordance with Reuters.
Walden Worldwide, in the meantime, is at present a joint proprietor in 20 funding funds and firms with Chinese language authorities funds or state-owned enterprises, in accordance with Chinese language company information.
Walden has additionally collectively invested in six Chinese language tech companies alongside Chinese language navy provider China Electronics Company (CEC). Throughout his first administration, Trump signed an govt order in 2020 that banned any buying or investing in “Chinese language navy firms,” with CEC on the checklist.
In accordance with one other Reuters report, Walden and CEC have a joint 2% stake in surveillance firm Intellifusion, which is listed on the U.S. Division of Commerce commerce blacklist in 2020 for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Walden Worldwide didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark. An unnamed supply with data of the matter informed Reuters that Tan had divested from his positions in entities from China, however the outlet was unable to verify that declare.
“On this political local weather, (China ties) can be one thing that accountable enterprise management at an organization like Intel would a minimum of have a critical dialog about methods to attempt to handle,” Diamond informed Reuters. “It’s clearly politically delicate and the board will surely need to find out about it.”
The Division of Commerce’s Entity Listing bans U.S. companies from exporting delicate applied sciences to Chinese language firms, however doesn’t block funding.
The Pentagon prohibits firms tied to the Chinese language navy from the U.S. navy provide chain. However except an organization is added to the U.S. Treasury’s Chinese language Army-Industrial Complicated Corporations Listing, it’s authorized for U.S. residents to carry stakes in Chinese language firms, even people who have ties to the Chinese language navy.
There isn’t any proof that Tan at present invests instantly in firms on the U.S. Treasury’s checklist, in accordance with Reuters.
“The one level at which a company governance situation would possibly rise is that if Tan discovered himself on either side of a transaction,” Diamond mentioned, “the place Intel could be negotiating with an organization the place he’s a director or shareholder.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
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