TSMC (Remastered)

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.

Ben GilberthostDavid Rosenthalhost

Jan 21, 20252h 27mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: January 21, 2025
Duration: 2h 27m
Channel: Acquired
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

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.

SPEAKERS

Ben Gilbert
host
David Rosenthal
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, TSMC (Remastered) explores tSMC’s unlikely rise to semiconductor foundry monopoly powering modern tech This remastered Acquired episode tells the origin story of TSMC through founder Morris Chang’s life: from war-torn China to MIT/Stanford to a meteoric career at Texas Instruments.

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