We dive into the unbelievable and unlikely history behind the quietest technology giant of them all: the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Founded in 1987 by the then-56 year old Morris Chang, already a legend in the semiconductor industry by virtue of his meteoric rise and fall at Texas Instruments, TSMC today manufactures nearly all the leading-edge chips for Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom, Qualcomm, AMD, and yes — even Intel. Tune in for an incredible story of innovation, perseverance and lasers. Lots and lots of lasers!
Note: this is a remastered version of our original 2021 episode. We don’t often re-release old episodes, but in this case we have a very timely reason for doing so. Stay tuned! :)
Sponsors:
Many thanks to our fantastic partners:
Vanta
https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
J.P. Morgan Payments
https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMPTSMCyt
Statsig
https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24
Links:
Episode Sources
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rQMgQDY5c3Fs5DsjB4cZHVZGdhN4kK-6HapO_r7pjyQ/edit?usp=sharing
Carve Outs:
Ted Lasso (Season 1)
https://tv.apple.com/us/show/ted-lasso/umc.cmc.vtoh0mn0xn7t3c643xqonfzy
Greek
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976014/
Who is Michael Ovitz?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2HS77M/
More Acquired:
Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
https://www.acquired.fm/email
Join the Slack
http://acquired.fm/slack
Subscribe to ACQ2
https://pod.link/acquiredlp
Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!
https://www.acquired.fm/store
Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.