Meet 14 power players leading TSMC, the world's biggest chipmaker that's taken center stage as the AI wars heat up

Born in China, Morris Chang grew up during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II in Asia before moving to the US to attend Harvard at age 18. He later transferred to MIT and obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering before joining Sylvania to work in semiconductors. Chang later completed a Ph.D. at Stanford and rose through the ranks at Texas Instruments for 25 years, where he managed the company's microchips business. After he left Texas Instruments, he became the COO of General Instrument.

Ultimately, Taiwan's government requested that he grow the island's semiconductor industry, which led him to leave his corporate executive positions to head the ITRI, Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, and later start TSMC. His focus on starting a pure-play foundry model led to the rapid growth of Taiwan's semiconductor industry.

"I always thought of my job as one of transferring R&D results to economic gains for the company," Chang previously said in an interview with Semi.

C.C. Wei has been TSMC's CEO since 2018 and became the new chairman of its board in June 2024. Nikkei Asia reported that Wei had "quietly steered" the management side of the company, while former chairman Mark Liu had more public meetings with the likes of President Joe Biden. Wei has held various roles in TSMC that spread across research, manufacturing, operations, and business development, a fact that founder Morris Chang once noted will make him "well-prepared" as a leader.

Lora Ho serves as the senior vice president of human resources and ESG committee chairperson at TSMC and has taken on various roles in the past. She previously served as a corporate controller before taking on the role of chief financial officer and spokesperson, a role many pointed out was significant given that Ho had never studied abroad like many of her engineering counterparts.

Ho is currently the highest-ranking female executive at TSMC. She oversees human resources and has also spoken about the workplace cultural differences between Taiwan and TSMC's overseas expansion.

"The way we manage in Taiwan cannot be totally transferred [to other countries]. In the US, we have to adjust to local culture," she told CNN.

Y.J. Mii is an executive vice president heading research and development and was appointed co-COO in February. He began at the company as a fab manager in 1994 before switching to the R&D unit and eventually becoming vice president of that department.

According to the company's website, Mii helped spearhead the development of technologies that have made TSMC competitive, including 16 nm, 7 nm, 5 nm, and 3 nm. Mii is also a self-professed physics enthusiast.

Y.P. Chyn is an executive vice president and co-COO at TSMC, specifically focusing on the operations and management of the company's domestic and overseas fabs.

Chyn joined TSMC when it was founded in 1987 and directed the first foundry manufacturing facility at the Taiwan government's Industrial Technology Research Institute in Hsinchu. Local media outlets say that he and other co-COOs are possibly being tapped as the next "third-gen" CEO.

Cliff Hou is a senior vice president at TSMC who heads Europe and Asia sales and corporate research. He's a deputy under COO Y.P. Chyn and a deputy co-COO appointed after former chairman Mark Liu announced his retirement. He previously served as a vice president of the development of TSMC's process generation tools.

As the chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, Hou has spoken about the "golden age" of AI and how TSMC needs to leverage green energy and meet Taiwan's commitment to net zero by 2050 as this industry explodes.

"The supply of net-zero energy currently lags the demand of our entire semiconductor industry. We hope that the government can speed up the pace of developing new energy sources," Hou said of the Taiwanese government.

Kevin Zhang is the senior vice president of business development and global sales and co-COO at TSMC under COO Y.J. Mii. He also co-leads customer engagement and is responsible for outlining companywide business strategy.

Zhang has helped take the lead on new product announcements such as the A16 nodes and the Super Power Rail network. Prior to joining TSMC in 2016, he worked at Intel as the vice president of the technology and manufacturing group.

When TSMC wanted to launch its Arizona fab, the company looked to Rick Cassidy, a former US Army officer, to lead its efforts. Cassidy first joined TSMC North America in 1997 as vice president of account management before becoming the branch's president and CEO in 2005. He also previously served in various executive positions at Fairchild Semiconductor, later acquired by National Semiconductor

While assisting TSMC's expansion, Cassidy met with senators after the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, where TSMC received $6.6 billion in funding for its new facilities in the US. He also oversaw the cultural integration of American factories into TSMC's larger fabric. Hundreds of Arizona's new plant employees spend one to two years in Taiwan learning TSMC's advanced manufacturing processes, while others are brought over from Taiwan on contract, with cultural differences sometimes causing clashes.

Dave Keller serves as the president and CEO of TSMC North America. The region accounted for more than 70% of its global sales. The Silicon Valley-based executive started as the director of account management for North America in 1997 before rising up in the ranks at the North American subsidiary.

Keller previously was a marketing and sales executive at National Semiconductor.

Castanares was promoted to TSMC Arizona president in October since Brian Harrison, who previously held the role, is retiring. A veteran of the chips industry for more than 30 years, she previously worked at National Semiconductor, Chartered Semiconductor, and Siliconix. She previously led business management at TSMC North America, where she was responsible for sales and services for fabless customers in the US.

She will oversee a growth period at TSMC Arizona as the fabs start high-volume production in 2025.

"While our first fab will start volume production soon, I am also thinking about what we need to ramp our second and third fabs planned in Phoenix," Castanares said in a released statement to the Phoenix Business Journal. "Shaping our workforce pipeline programs and building a strong, diverse, and inclusive workplace are some of my top priorities."

Sylvia Fang is TSMC's vice president and general counsel and the corporate governance officer of the company's board of directors. She joined the company in 1995 and has spearheaded high-profile corporate transactions, intellectual property, and trade secret litigations.

Given that TSMC's revenue comes from carrying out the design requests of companies like Nvidia and Apple, as well as balancing the needs of partners in the US and China, Fang has played a role in protecting TSMC's interests in challenging geopolitical situations.

Wendell Huang is the senior vice president of finance and CFO of TSMC. He has led numerous corporate acquisitions, including of TASMC and WSMC. He also leads investment management, foreign exchange, and risk management.

Huang previously worked for ING Barings, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bankers Trust Company, Chemical Bank, and Bank of Boston.

J.K. Lin was one of TSMC's first employees in 1987. He serves as the senior vice president of corporate strategy development and chief information security officer, spearheading the company's efforts toward AI use in smart manufacturing and improving productivity.

Lin also helps manage supply chain risks and resilience.

In the last few years, TSMC has quickly developed its lobbying efforts and presence in Washington, DC, amid the rising tensions between the US and China. It hired former Intel lobbyist Peter Cleveland as a senior vice president in the legal department. Cleveland previously served as the vice president of global government affairs at TSMC and helps the company with policy, legislative, and regulatory matters.

Cleveland has worked on Capitol Hill for lawmakers in the Senate's finance and foreign relations committees and served as chief of staff for former California senator Dianne Feinstein.