siliconbruh999
Well-known member
If the dude really did something than he would sell his entire stock before moving to Intel but he didn't.
TSMC formally sues ex-SVP over alleged transfer of secrets to Intel
- Thread starter Daniel Nenni
- Start date
Xebec
Well-known member
He was a pretty high up executive; stock sales (at least in the US) often require disclosure and to be scheduled (months?) in advance.
You raise a good point - but it's also possible that this process precluded him selling in time before switching over to Intel.
hist78
Well-known member
It might be important, but it might also be irrelevant. In a criminal investigation, the most important factor is what a person actually DID.
siliconbruh999
Well-known member
You can't do such a switch just in a moment he must have thought of something
Yes but so far there hasn't been proof even the raid didn't found any evidence
As I understand, the restrictions on high executives stock sales are there to preventt insider trading. Once he was out, he was not privy to internal TSMC information. Would he still be constrained in stock sales?
siliconbruh999
Well-known member
every country has different law so maybe there is a cooldown period or something
According to Grok:
Wei-Jen Lo's TSMC Stock Holdings
Based on the latest reports from the ongoing legal proceedings (as of November 29, 2025), Wei-Jen Lo (also known as Lo Wei-Jen or 羅唯仁) holds approximately NT$1.8 billion worth of TSMC common shares. This valuation reflects the court's asset preservation order issued on November 26, 2025, which froze these holdings as part of an investigation into alleged trade secret leaks. The freeze prevents Lo from selling, transferring, or accessing the shares during the probe.
Wei-Jen Lo's TSMC Stock Holdings
Based on the latest reports from the ongoing legal proceedings (as of November 29, 2025), Wei-Jen Lo (also known as Lo Wei-Jen or 羅唯仁) holds approximately NT$1.8 billion worth of TSMC common shares. This valuation reflects the court's asset preservation order issued on November 26, 2025, which froze these holdings as part of an investigation into alleged trade secret leaks. The freeze prevents Lo from selling, transferring, or accessing the shares during the probe.
Key Details
- Value and Context: The NT$1.8 billion (roughly US$56 million at current exchange rates) is part of a broader NT$2 billion asset seizure that also includes real estate. This amount is based on TSMC's market price at the time of the court approval and represents Lo's entire disclosed TSMC equity portfolio.
- Number of Shares: Exact share counts are not publicly detailed in filings or media, as Lo is not a board member or top executive required to report under Taiwan's >10% ownership thresholds (per TWSE regulations). Estimates suggest around 2-3 million shares, but this is approximate and tied to the NT$1.8B valuation—TSMC's ADR (TSM) closed at ~US$185/share (or ~NT$600/ADS equivalent) on November 29, 2025.
- Historical Holdings: No prior public disclosures exist for Lo's exact ownership, but as a 21-year TSMC veteran (retired July 2025), his stake likely accumulated via long-term incentives, bonuses, and RSUs common for senior VPs in the industry.
- Current Status: The shares remain owned by Lo but are under judicial freeze. No voluntary sales have occurred, and any liquidation would require court approval if the case proceeds to damages.
Implications
This seizure stems from TSMC's November 25, 2025, lawsuit in Taiwan's Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, alleging Lo breached non-compete and confidentiality clauses by joining Intel as EVP in October 2025. Prosecutors raided Lo's homes on November 26, seizing devices for evidence. Intel has denied wrongdoing, calling the claims meritless.MKWVentures
Moderator
100% agree.
Only explaination is that TSMC people reported him taking classified documents AFTER they heard he was hired at Intel.
Taking classified documents by people leaving their job has happened before. Maybe he has the documents stored in his Garage in Delaware or at Mar-a-lago. Special council to be named depending on Wei Jens political party (KMT/DPP)
I think Intel already knew his employment history. What was there to confirm? Do you think TSMC called Intel when he moved from Intel to TSMC?
Have you ever heard about classified personal notes? I am curious what the company's process for such classification would be.100% agree.
Only explaination is that TSMC people reported him taking classified documents AFTER they heard he was hired at Intel.
Taking classified documents by people leaving their job has happened before. Maybe he has the documents stored in his Garage in Delaware or at Mar-a-lago. Special council to be named depending on Wei Jens political party (KMT/DPP)
DepthFirst
Member
TSMC and Taiwan should tread very carefully here. While it’s already been established that TSMC has a large range of options when it comes to retaliation to Intel, ultimately it’s the US that possesses escalation dominance here. And Trump will most certainly be unsympathetic to TSMC.
M. Y. Zuo
Active member
For low ranks or at most middle management, which I assume he was at back then, probably not as a vetting procedure. But calling informally, water cooler questions, and the like, certainly possible.
Words directly from Lai—people can decide for themselves whether to take messages from the Taiwanese government seriously:That’s one point of view. But what about the people here who say that most people in Taiwan would support independence—given that the large-scale recalls of KMT-elected officials ended in a major failure? Do they call their own views “shit,” then?
If Taiwan doesn’t have the capability to defend itself, it should stop pretending and dragging other countries into the mess.
The nuclear argument is somewhat valid, given the recent actions of the Japanese leadership.
Japan edges towards hosting nuclear weapons | The Strategist
It looks like Japan will finally cast aside its ban on hosting nuclear weapons—specifically, those of the United States. Moving towards action she called for last year, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is reviewing the three principles that have ...www.aspistrategist.org.au
Taiwan’s William Lai accused of stoking fear with 2027 countdown confusion
Critics question where the money will come from to finance Lai’s plans for a massive increase in military spending.
www.scmp.com
siliconbruh999
Well-known member
i doubt you will be a middle manager after 18Year at a company
The position of Dr. Wei-Jen Lo at Intel when he left the company to join TSMC in 2004 was Director of Technology Development and as a Factory Manager running a development facility in Santa Clara, California.
Edit: I used Gemini to find this information and I did not pay attention to the original source at first. But then I did and it turned out to be Daniel's article right here on SemiWiki. This being a fresh article, it is interesting that Gemini LLM already knew about it. Do they constantly re-train it? Unlikely. Most likely RAG or some other technique is involved.
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Why's everyone bringing this to country level? It's IP issue between company and ex-employee, could happen anywhere, and internationally recognized everywhere. If TSMC were wrong, WJL could counter-sue.
One Taiwanese news program mentioned WJL seldom use computer and he has a habit to use hand written notes. Therefore, I also suspect it is very likely that TSM benefited enormously from from WJL's experience at Intel. Also when Intel's employees joined TSM such as Kevin Zhang, Intel's progress plans/difficulties could be likely leaked out which would allow TSM to devise plans to catch up with Intel.
tooLongInEDA
Moderator
It's also internationally recognised everywhere because of US technology and commercial dominance. They write the rules and get everyone else (with perhaps a partial exception in China) to follow them. We may sometimes resent this outside the US, but life would be far more chaotic and unpredictable if someone wasn't enforcing a standard.
So we might reflect that TSMC are only following US best practice here. I have the sense (hard to be certain) that the criticism of TSMC here is coming mainly from outside the US.
All that said, the case is still open and should not be pre-judged.
And if Trump gets involved, let's just say that following standards and processes doesn't seem to be his thing ...