Talk about the reflection of wealth. Sadly two weeks after US President Donald Trump called for the resignation of the lips of the CEO of Intel due to his alleged conflict in interests, Tan sold a 10 % stake in the chips maker to the United States government.
In a social publication on August 7, Trump wrote, “Intel CEO is very conflicting and must be resigned immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.” Trump was alluding to Tan’s 66 -year -old investments in companies with ties with the Communist Party of China and the Popular Liberation Army (PLA).
In 2023, a selected committee from the American House of Representatives sent a letter to Tan expressing concern about the risks in Chinese companies that he occupied through his interest in Walden International, an investment capital company that he founded in 1987. According to the published reports, at least eight of these companies link it to the National Army.
Tan, an American citizen who obtained a master’s degree in science in nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continued to become the CEO of the rhythm design system from 2009 to 2021, responded to Trump’s demands by insisting that he “always behaves within the highest legal and ethical standards.” However, the CEO of Intel did not last March, any indication that he had threw his share in any of the companies concerned.
The reflection came on August 22, when Intel announced that it had agreed to sell 8.9 billion dollars of regular shares equal to 9.9 % of the shares of the US government. The company said that the government shareholders will be funded by $ 5.7 billion of grants that were previously granted, but not yet paid, to the company under the Law of Chips and Science, and amounted to $ 3.2 billion for the company as part of the safe pocket program, which is a secret initiative for the Ministry of Defense to support the semiconductor industry. While critics complained that such investments lead to favoritism and corruption, Washington’s investment in Intel is supposed to be negative, as the government generally votes with the administration. It may also fit with Trump’s plans for the sovereign wealth fund, as the director of the National Economic Council Kevin Haysit told CNBC the day it was announced.
