Who Founded ASML Holding NV?

Christophe Fouquet succeeded Peter Wennink as ASML's CEO in April 2024, bringing two decades of ASML experience including his tenure as Executive Vice President for Applications responsible for customer technology enablement and EUV commercialization. Fouquet has emphasized continued investment in High-NA EUV technology ramp and supply chain capacity development as the primary strategic priorities. His leadership has been tested immediately by the geopolitical pressures of China export controls and the October 2024 guidance disclosure incident, and he has maintained a consistent message that ASML's long-term demand outlook — driven by AI chip manufacturing demand — remains exceptionally strong despite near-term uncertainty.

Peter Wennink served as ASML's CEO for over a decade, overseeing the successful commercialization of EUV lithography from research curiosity to production-capable technology, a transformation that secured ASML's monopoly position for the foreseeable future. Under Wennink's leadership, ASML's revenue grew from approximately 5 billion euros to over 27 billion euros, and the company's market capitalization expanded from approximately $15 billion to over $300 billion at peak. Wennink also orchestrated the landmark 2012 customer co-investment program with Intel, TSMC, and Samsung that provided critical funding for EUV acceleration and navigated the company through the complex geopolitical dynamics of US-China technology competition.

Roger Dassen has overseen ASML's financial management through a period of extraordinary revenue growth and increasing geopolitical complexity, maintaining the company's strong balance sheet and disciplined capital allocation while funding the substantial R&D programs required to advance EUV and High-NA EUV technology. Dassen has been instrumental in communicating the company's financial outlook to investors during periods of semiconductor cycle volatility and export control uncertainty, providing guidance frameworks that help investors navigate the company's unique backlog-driven revenue model. Under his financial stewardship, ASML has maintained gross margins consistently above 50 percent and returned significant capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

Martin van den Brink is widely regarded as the technical architect of ASML's EUV strategy and one of the most consequential engineers in the history of semiconductor manufacturing. As CTO, van den Brink championed EUV lithography through decades of internal skepticism and industry doubt, maintaining ASML's commitment to the technology when many competitors had abandoned their own programs. His technical vision for EUV's feasibility — and his organizational skill in assembling the engineering teams and supplier partnerships necessary to make it real — is credited as the single most important factor in ASML's current monopoly position. Van den Brink retired in 2024 after nearly three decades of service, leaving behind a technology roadmap extending to Hyper-NA EUV that will define the company's competitive position for the next decade.