Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing? Founders &

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

Market Data Current As Of: September 12, 2026

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Founding Story

Morris Chang spent twenty-five years at Texas Instruments before the Taiwan government approached him in 1985 with a proposal: come to Taiwan and help build a domestic semiconductor industry. Chang, then 54 years old, accepted. He had a specific idea that no one had tried at commercial scale: a semiconductor company that only manufactured chips — no design, no product sales, no competition with its own customers. The 1987 founding capital of $220 million came from three sources: the Taiwan government through ITRI held 48%, Philips Electronics contributed 27.5%, and private Taiwanese investors provided the remaining 24.5%. The government stake was not a subsidy — it was a strategic investment in domestic industrial capability, and it provided TSMC with the credibility to attract customers who might otherwise have worried about a new, unproven foundry. The pure-play foundry concept took years to validate. The first major customers were small design firms that could not afford their own fabs. The business grew slowly through the early 1990s as the fabless model proved its commercial viability. TSMC listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1994, providing access to international capital and establishing the company as a legitimate peer to US semiconductor companies. The 28-nanometer process node, launched in 2010, was the inflection point that established TSMC's technological leadership beyond dispute. NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Apple moved manufacturing to TSMC's 28nm process and discovered that TSMC's yields, consistency, and technical support were superior to internal fab operations at every customer that had previously manufactured its own chips. From that point, the fabless model became the industry default for new chip designers, and TSMC's capacity became the scarce resource that determined how quickly the industry could grow.

Morris Chang

Co-founder 1987

Background

Morris Chang was born in Ningbo, China in 1931 and emigrated to the United States as a young man, completing his undergraduate engineering education at MIT before earning a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1964. He spent 25 years at Texas Instruments, where he rose to Group Vice President and became one of the most technically respected semiconductor executives in the American industry. His experience at TI gave him deep insight into the economics and limitations of the integrated device manufacturer model, which directly informed his subsequent vision for the foundry business. After departing TI and briefly working at General Instrument, he accepted an invitation from Taiwan's government to lead the Industrial Technology Research Institute and develop a semiconductor industry strategy for the island. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability. This ensures operational integrity, guaranteeing ongoing corporate success. This ensures future stability.

Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing? FAQ

Who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and in what year was it established?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

What was the original founding vision for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?

The founders established Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company with the objective of solving core inefficiencies in Semiconductor foundry and advanced chip manufacturing, laying the foundation for its current global scale.

How does Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company preserve its founding principles today?

Even as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company scales to $90.1B, the organization maintains the founders' commitment to innovation and customer-centric execution.

Founding Story

Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing? FAQ

Who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and in what year was it established?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

What was the original founding vision for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?

How does Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company preserve its founding principles today?

Even as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company scales to $90.1B, the organization maintains the founders' commitment to innovation and customer-centric execution.

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Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing?

Founding Story

Morris Chang

Background

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company: CEO & Leadership History

Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing? FAQ

Who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and in what year was it established?

What was the original founding vision for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?

How does Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company preserve its founding principles today?

Related Competitor Intelligence

Nvidia

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Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing?

Founding Story

Morris Chang

Background

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company: CEO & Leadership History

Who Founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing? FAQ

Who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and in what year was it established?

What was the original founding vision for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company?

How does Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company preserve its founding principles today?