ASML Holding vs TCS: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: ASML Holding and TCS side by side

1. 1968TCS

   TCS is founded

   Tata Consultancy Services begins inside the Tata Group.

2. 1969TCS

   F.C. Kohli Joins as First CEO

   F.C. Kohli is brought in on deputation to lead TCS, then a 10-consultant operation, and begins building an industrial, assembly-line approach to software delivery.

3. 1984ASML Holding

   Founded as ASM Lithography in Eindhoven

   ASM Lithography starts operations on April 1, 1984 as a joint venture between Philips and ASM International, with the mandate to commercialize the PAS 2000 wafer stepper developed inside Philips.

4. 1986ASML Holding

   PAS 2500 stepper and the Carl Zeiss partnership

   ASML brings the PAS 2500 stepper to market with a new wafer alignment system developed by first chief scientist Steef Wittekoek, and establishes the optics partnership with Carl Zeiss that still supplies every ASML lithography system.

5. 1988ASML Holding

   ASM International withdraws and Philips funds a rescue

   With few customers and heavy cash consumption, ASM International decides to stop funding the joint venture while Philips launches a company-wide cost-cutting program.

6. 1991ASML Holding

   PAS 5500 platform turns the company around

   ASML launches the PAS 5500 platform, whose productivity and resolution win the first large orders from Intel and IBM under chief executive Willem Maris and take the company to profitability. PAS 5500 systems are still running in customer fabs decades later.

7. 1995ASML Holding

   IPO in Amsterdam and on Nasdaq

   ASML becomes a fully independent public company with a dual listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Philips sells half of its shares at the IPO and divests the remainder over the following years.

8. 2001ASML Holding

   TWINSCAN platform launched and Silicon Valley Group acquired

   ASML introduces the TWINSCAN dual-stage architecture, which exposes one wafer while the next is measured and aligned, lifting throughput and overlay accuracy above competing systems.

9. 2001TCS

   CMC Limited Stake Acquired

   TCS acquires a majority stake in CMC Limited from the Government of India, adding systems-integration and public-sector technology capability.

10. 2001TCS

    TCS Crosses $1 Billion in Revenue

    TCS becomes the first Indian IT services company to cross $1 billion in annual revenue, cementing its position as an industry leader.

11. 2003ASML Holding

    First immersion lithography system

    The TWINSCAN AT:1150i debuts as ASML's first immersion machine, projecting 193 nanometer light through a layer of ultrapure water between the lens and the wafer to raise resolution.

12. 2004TCS

    TCS lists publicly

    TCS completes its IPO and becomes one of India's most important listed technology companies.

13. 2009TCS

    TCS crosses major global scale thresholds

    TCS expands globally across industries and delivery centers under new then-CEO N. Chandrasekaran.

14. 2010ASML Holding

    First EUV prototype shipped

    ASML ships the TWINSCAN NXE:3100, its first extreme ultraviolet lithography tool, to the research facility of an Asian chipmaker.

15. 2012ASML Holding

    Customer Co-Investment Program with Intel, TSMC and Samsung

    Intel, TSMC and Samsung acquire newly issued ASML shares equal to an aggregate 23 percent minority stake for ~$4.35 billion (3.85 billion euros) in cash, and separately commit ~$1.56 billion (1.38 billion euros) of R&D funding over five years dedicated to EUV…

16. 2013ASML Holding

    Cymer acquisition completed and second-generation EUV shipped

    ASML completes the acquisition of Cymer, the San Diego supplier of the light sources used in its lithography systems, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at ~$2.2 billion (1.95 billion euros) when it was agreed in October 2012.

17. 2013TCS

    N. Chandrasekaran Becomes CEO

    Chandrasekaran becomes CEO, leading TCS through a period of rapid international expansion before his 2017 elevation to Tata Sons chairman.

18. 2017ASML Holding

    EUV enters high-volume manufacturing

    ASML begins shipping the production-ready TWINSCAN NXE:3400B after customers started ordering the NXE:3400 generation in batches in 2016, roughly two decades after EUV research began.

19. 2019ASML Holding

    Dutch government stops EUV exports to China

    The Netherlands does not renew ASML's export licence for EUV systems to China, the start of a widening export control regime.

20. 2020TCS

    F.C. Kohli Passes Away

    F.C. Kohli, TCS co-founder and first CEO, dies at age 96, having lived to see the company he helped build become one of the worlds largest IT services firms.

21. 2023ASML Holding

    First High-NA EUV system shipped

    ASML ships the first of its next-generation EUV systems with a numerical aperture of 0.55, the TWINSCAN EXE:5000, to Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon.

22. 2023TCS

    K. Krithivasan becomes CEO

    K. Krithivasan becomes CEO and managing director of TCS, succeeding Rajesh Gopinathan.

23. 2024ASML Holding

    Christophe Fouquet becomes chief executive

    Peter Wennink and Martin van den Brink step down as presidents of ASML on April 24, 2024 and Christophe Fouquet becomes president, chief executive officer and chair of the Board of Management.

24. 2025ASML Holding

    Record year, first EXE:5200B and Mistral AI investment

    ASML reports total net sales of ~$37 billion (32.7 billion euros), up 15.6 percent, net income of ~$10.8 billion (9.6 billion euros), a gross margin of 52.8 percent and 535 systems sold, and closes the year with a backlog of ~$43.8 billion (38.8 billion euros)…

25. 2026TCS

    FY2026 revenue is reported

    TCS reports FY2026 revenue of $30.017B and net margin of 19.8%.

26. 2026TCS

    Q1 FY2027 AI run-rate grows

    TCS reports Q1 FY2027 revenue of $7.624B and annualized AI revenue of $2.6B.

27. 2026TCS

    Tata Sons chairman succession opens

    On August 12, 2026, N. Chandrasekaran said he would not seek another term as Tata Sons chairman after February 2027; TCS shares fell about 4% on the news.

Acquisitions

Questions about ASML Holding vs TCS