Morris Chang

Morris Chang, the legendary entrepreneur known as the "father of semiconductors," is the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). He created the world's first dedicated wafer foundry and pioneered a business model that reshaped the global technology industry. From Chinese American senior executive at Texas Instruments to founder of TSMC in Taiwan, his life traces the development of the global semiconductor industry and established Taiwan's critical position in the global technology supply chain.

30-Second Overview

Why should the world know Morris Chang?

TSMC, founded by Morris Chang, is the world's most valuable wafer foundry and a crucial foundation of modern digital civilization. From smartphones and computers to artificial intelligence chips, most of the world's advanced semiconductors are manufactured by TSMC. The "pure-play foundry" business model he pioneered enabled countless technology companies to focus on chip design without having to invest enormous capital in building wafer fabs, fundamentally reshaping the global technology industry.

TSMC is called Taiwan's "sacred mountain protecting the nation," a phrase used in Taiwan to describe its irreplaceable strategic value in geopolitics. Chang is one of the few people in the twentieth century who genuinely changed an industry's structure: he redefined the business boundaries of the semiconductor sector and enabled Taiwan, starting from contract manufacturing, to become a central node in the global technology supply chain.

Born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, in 1931 and founder of TSMC in Taiwan in 1987, Morris Chang's life is itself a condensed history of Asia's technological rise in the twentieth century.

Early Life and Education

Growing Up in an Era of Upheaval

Birth and family background:
Morris Chang was born on July 10, 1931, in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. His father, Chang Wei-kuan, was a banker, and his mother, Hsu Yun-cheng, came from a scholarly family. In that turbulent era, his father was deeply versed in literature and history, and the family had an extensive home library. This environment allowed Chang to retain a humanistic perspective throughout his engineering career.

A childhood of migration:
Because of war, Chang's childhood was marked by constant movement. From Ningbo to Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Shanghai again, then Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and ultimately the United States, this experience of displacement cultivated his adaptability and international outlook.

Schooling in Hong Kong:
In 1945, at age 14, Chang moved with his family to Hong Kong, where he received his secondary education under the British colonial education system. Hong Kong's international environment and English-language education laid an important foundation for his later studies and work in the United States.

A Crucial Turn in American Education

A brief period at Harvard:
In 1949, at age 18, Chang entered Harvard University, initially studying literature. After one year, however, he transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both because he lacked passion for literature and because of financial considerations.

Engineering education at MIT:
At MIT, Chang chose mechanical engineering as his major. The choice may have seemed accidental, but it gave him first-hand engineering intuition in the core of semiconductor manufacturing: precision mechanical processes. This later became an important basis for his leadership in improving TSMC's manufacturing processes.

Bachelor's degree in 1952:
Chang received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1952. Upon graduation, the Korean War was under way, and as a foreign student he could not obtain work related to the U.S. military. That constraint instead pushed him toward civilian industry.

Early Career: Sylvania

Entering the Semiconductor Industry

An opportunity in 1955:
After graduation, Chang worked for three years at Sylvania, his first exposure to the semiconductor industry. At the time, the semiconductor sector was still in its infancy, but Chang keenly perceived the enormous potential of this emerging industry.

Developing technical capabilities:
At Sylvania, Chang worked on the manufacture of semiconductor devices and learned the fundamentals of semiconductor processes. This experience taught him the complexity and precision of semiconductor manufacturing and cultivated his attention to technical detail.

Early signs of management ability:
Even in a junior technical role, Chang displayed strong management ability. He was adept at organizing teams and solving technical problems, and those three years helped him understand the exacting demands of semiconductor manufacturing.

Texas Instruments: The Emergence of a Manager

A Major Turning Point in 1958

Joining Texas Instruments:
In 1958, Chang joined Texas Instruments (TI), a decisive turning point in his career. TI was then aggressively expanding its semiconductor business and needed people who could bridge engineering and management.

From engineer to manager:
At TI, Chang began as a semiconductor engineer responsible for wafer production. He performed strongly in technical work while also showing exceptional management talent, quickly attracting the attention of senior leaders.

Contributions to process improvement:
During his years at TI, Chang substantially improved the company's semiconductor processes, raising product yield and production efficiency. These technical improvements saved the company significant costs and earned him a strong reputation.

Advanced Study at Stanford

The opportunity to study in 1961:
In 1961, TI supported Chang in pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering at Stanford University. This was recognition of his ability and also showed how American companies valued talent development.

Earning the doctorate:
In 1964, Chang received a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University.¹ This period of study deepened his theoretical training and expanded his industry network. After returning to TI, he was soon promoted.

A new role after returning:
After completing his doctorate, Chang returned to TI in higher-level management roles. He successively served as general manager of the germanium transistor, silicon transistor, and integrated circuit divisions, with his standing at TI rising alongside his performance.

Breaking the Racial Ceiling

A historic promotion in 1972:
In 1972, Chang was promoted to group vice president of Texas Instruments, becoming one of the highest-ranking Chinese executives in major American corporations at the time. Such a promotion was an extremely rare achievement in the U.S. business environment of that era.

General manager of the semiconductor group:
Chang also served as general manager of TI's semiconductor group, overseeing the company's core business division. Under his leadership, TI's semiconductor business developed rapidly and became one of the world's major semiconductor suppliers.

The sum of a 25-year American career:
In his 25 years at TI, Chang rose from entry-level engineer to senior executive and gained a deep understanding of the semiconductor industry's technical cadence and business logic. When he returned to Taiwan to start a company in 1987, this experience gave him far sharper market judgment than anyone with a purely academic background.

Taiwan's Call: President of ITRI

A Life Turn in 1985

The invitation from Sun Yun-suan:
In 1985, Chang was strongly invited by former Premier Sun Yun-suan,² ITRI chairman Hsu Hsien-hsiu, Premier Yu Kuo-hwa, and Minister without Portfolio K. T. Li to serve as president of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Sun Yun-suan had long promoted Taiwan's development of high-technology industries and was a key advocate in bringing Chang back to Taiwan. This decision changed the course of Chang's life and the fate of Taiwan's technology industry.

The courage to leave a comfort zone:
At age 54, Chang already had a successful career and a comfortable life in the United States. Choosing to return to Taiwan was a decision full of risk and challenge, showing his sense of mission toward Taiwan's technological development.

Reforming ITRI:
During his tenure as president of ITRI, Chang pushed for closer integration between research and industry and reorganized ITRI's research direction with American-style management thinking. His international perspective helped shift ITRI from a government research institution toward a more commercially aware technology incubator.

Assessing Taiwan's Semiconductor Industry

Analyzing the industrial environment:
Chang carefully assessed Taiwan's industrial environment and advantages. He believed Taiwan had excellent engineering talent, lower costs, and flexible manufacturing capability, conditions well suited to developing semiconductor manufacturing.

The foundry concept:
At ITRI, Chang began to think through a revolutionary business model: the dedicated wafer foundry. The idea came from his deep insight into industry trends and represented the crystallization of many years of industrial experience.

The importance of government support:
Chang understood that developing a semiconductor industry required full government support, including capital investment, policy coordination, and talent cultivation. He communicated closely with government officials and secured for TSMC a special structure combining ITRI technology licensing and government equity investment.

The Birth of TSMC: Innovation in 1987

Innovation in the Dedicated Foundry Model

A breakthrough in foundry thinking:
In 1987, Chang proposed the innovative concept of the "dedicated wafer foundry." Unlike the traditional integrated device manufacturer (IDM) model, TSMC would focus on manufacturing chips for customers and would not design its own products.

The revolutionary business model:
The revolutionary nature of this model lay in the fact that it enabled many companies without the capacity to build wafer fabs to design advanced chips. It dramatically lowered the barrier to entry in the semiconductor industry and allowed chip design companies to grow exponentially from the 1990s through the 2020s.

Impact on the industry ecosystem:
The dedicated foundry model created an entirely new industrial ecosystem. Design companies could focus on innovation, while foundries focused on manufacturing. This enabled specialized division of labor and improved efficiency across the industry.

The Founding of TSMC

The historic moment on February 21, 1987:
On February 21, 1987, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was formally established with initial capital of NT$22 billion. It was the result of cooperation among the government, private enterprises, and foreign investors.

Designing the ownership structure:
TSMC's ownership structure included ITRI, the Dutch company Philips, and Taiwanese private enterprises. This diversified structure brought TSMC technology, capital, and market resources.

Chang's dual role:
Chang served as TSMC's chairman and president, later retitled chief executive officer, responsible for the company's overall strategy and daily operations. His leadership style combined the efficiency of American management with the wisdom of Chinese culture.

TSMC's Development

Early Challenges and Breakthroughs

1987-1990: the difficult start-up years:
In its early years, TSMC faced enormous challenges. Dedicated foundry manufacturing was an entirely new business model, the market was skeptical, and customers needed time to accept the concept. Chang had to build manufacturing capability while persuading customers at the same time.

Building technical capability:
TSMC's initial technology came from transfers from ITRI and cooperation with Philips. Chang led the team in rapidly learning and improving process technology, establishing reliable manufacturing capability.

Developing the first customers:
TSMC's first customers were mainly American fabless semiconductor companies. These companies needed professional foundry services and gave TSMC its early business base.

Rapid Growth in the 1990s

A technology leadership strategy:
In the 1990s, Chang set a strategy of "technology leadership," investing heavily in research and development to ensure that TSMC would not lag behind competitors in any process generation. TSMC built multiple fabs in Taiwan, and its customer base expanded from early American fabless companies to major global design firms such as Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Nvidia.

Leadership in the Twenty-First Century

Competition in advanced processes:
Entering the twenty-first century, the development of semiconductor process technology became increasingly difficult and expensive. With R&D investment above the industry average each year, TSMC maintained its leadership in advanced processes.

Breakthroughs from 28 nanometers to 5 nanometers:
From 28 nanometers to 16 nanometers, 7 nanometers, and then 5 nanometers and 3 nanometers, TSMC maintained technological leadership in advanced processes at every generation, consolidating its position in the high-end market.

The milestone of Apple cooperation:
Cooperation with Apple began with the A-series chips in 2013. TSMC manufactured the core processors for iPhones and iPads, bringing in massive orders and subjecting TSMC's advanced process capability to the most rigorous commercial validation.³

Business Ideas and Management Philosophy

Commitment to Technological Innovation

Emphasis on R&D investment:
Chang consistently emphasized the importance of technological innovation. TSMC invests around 8% of annual revenue in R&D to ensure that it does not fall behind competitors.¹ In an era when Moore's Law faces physical limits, Chang led TSMC through successive breakthroughs in 7-nanometer, 5-nanometer, and 3-nanometer processes, providing manufacturing capability for the development of the entire semiconductor industry.

Balancing technology and market:
Chang was skilled at finding the balance between technological leadership and market demand. He sought to preserve technical advantage while ensuring commercial value, avoiding excessive technological overreach that would drive costs too high.

Talent Development and Corporate Culture

A corporate culture of integrity:
Chang built a corporate culture at TSMC centered on integrity. He emphasized the core values of "integrity, commitment, innovation, and customer trust," which became the foundation of TSMC's culture.

Emphasis on talent development:
Chang placed great importance on cultivating talent and established a systematic engineer training and promotion system at TSMC. He believed talent was the core competitiveness of an enterprise. While TSMC's turnover rate remained far below the industry average, it also developed core team members such as Mark Liu and C. C. Wei, who later led the company.

An international management style:
Chang brought the efficiency and transparency of American management into TSMC and established a modern corporate governance structure. At the same time, he incorporated the wisdom of Chinese culture, creating a distinctive corporate culture.

Strategic Thinking and Execution

Formulating long-term strategy:
Chang possessed exceptional strategic thinking. He could discern industry trends and set long-term development strategies. TSMC's "technology leadership" strategy was a clear expression of that strategic vision.

Emphasis on execution:
Beyond strategy formulation, Chang also placed great importance on execution. He built a precise management system that carried technology roadmaps from decision-making to fab implementation. This was a key reason TSMC could keep pace with each process generation.

Wisdom in crisis response:
When facing various crises and challenges, Chang demonstrated outstanding leadership and crisis-management judgment, leading TSMC through multiple difficult periods while maintaining stable corporate development.

Retirement and Succession

The First Retirement in 2005

Launching the succession plan:
In 2005, at age 74, Chang announced his retirement and handed the CEO role to Rick Tsai. This was part of a carefully prepared succession plan and reflected his sense of responsibility for the company's sustainable development.

Retaining the chairmanship:
Although he stepped down as CEO, Chang retained the chairmanship and continued to participate in major strategic decisions, providing guidance and support for the succession team.

Arrangements in retirement:
After retiring, Chang did not fully leave business activity. He attended international forums such as APEC as Taiwan's representative and shared his views on geopolitics and the future of semiconductors in numerous speeches.

The 2009 Return

The challenge of the financial crisis:
The 2008 global financial crisis had a major impact on TSMC, and the company faced the dual challenges of declining performance and intensifying competition. At this critical moment, Chang decided to return.

Serving again as CEO:
In 2009, at age 78, Chang again became CEO of TSMC and personally led the company through a difficult period. His return stabilized market confidence and provided leadership for the company's recovery.

Cultivating Mark Liu and C. C. Wei:
During his second term, Chang focused on cultivating successors such as Mark Liu and C. C. Wei, preparing the talent base for the company's future development.

Formal Retirement in 2018

Completing the succession plan:
In June 2018, at age 87, Chang formally retired, ending his legendary 31-year career at TSMC. He handed the chairmanship to Mark Liu and the CEO position to C. C. Wei.

Establishing a dual-leadership system:
Chang established a "dual-leadership system," with Mark Liu serving as chairman and handling external affairs, while C. C. Wei served as CEO and handled internal operations. This institutional arrangement helped support stable development.

A model of retiring at the height of achievement:
Chang's retirement is regarded as a model of corporate succession. He exited at the right time, giving the next generation of leaders sufficient room to act while ensuring a stable transition for the company.

Impact on the Global Semiconductor Industry

Innovation in Business Models

The spread of the dedicated foundry model:
The dedicated foundry model created by Chang has become one of the standard business models of the semiconductor industry. Hundreds of fabless semiconductor companies around the world rely on foundry services, and this model has greatly promoted the industry's development.

Reshaping the industrial ecosystem:
The dedicated foundry model reshaped the semiconductor ecosystem, promoted specialized division of labor, improved industrial efficiency, and lowered the threshold for innovation, allowing more companies to participate in chip design.

Building a global supply chain:
TSMC became a critical node in the global semiconductor supply chain, providing manufacturing services to technology companies around the world and helping establish a genuinely globalized semiconductor supply chain.

Driving Technological Progress

Leadership in process technology:
Under Chang's leadership, TSMC maintained global leadership in process technology, driving technological progress across the semiconductor industry and extending the vitality of Moore's Law.

Democratizing advanced processes:
TSMC's advanced process services allowed smaller design companies to use the latest technologies, achieving a "democratization" of advanced processes: a fabless start-up with only a few dozen people could have TSMC mass-produce 7-nanometer chips.

Opening new technological fields:
TSMC's manufacturing capability spans digital chips, AI accelerators, automotive semiconductors, and other application areas, providing a manufacturing foundation for a wide range of emerging technologies.

Meaning for Taiwan: Founder of the Technology Island

Development of the Technology Industry

Building the sacred mountain protecting the nation:
TSMC is called Taiwan's "sacred mountain protecting the nation," not only because of its enormous economic value, but also because of its critical position in the global technology supply chain. Chang built for Taiwan a strategic asset that is harder to replace than almost anything outside national defense.

Cultivating technology talent:
TSMC's development trained a large number of semiconductor professionals. These people not only supported TSMC's growth but also provided the talent base for Taiwan's broader technology industry.

Formation of an industrial cluster:
Centered on TSMC, Taiwan formed a semiconductor industrial cluster covering equipment suppliers, materials suppliers, and packaging and testing companies, creating enormous industrial value.

Contributions to Economic Development

A major contribution to GDP:
TSMC has become Taiwan's largest enterprise and makes a very important contribution to Taiwan's GDP. Its success has also driven the development of related industries and created substantial employment.

A pillar of export trade:
Semiconductors account for roughly one-third of Taiwan's total exports. TSMC's success has greatly enhanced Taiwan's position in global trade and strengthened the competitiveness of Taiwan's economy.⁴

Improving the investment environment:
TSMC's success attracted more international investment, improved Taiwan's investment environment, and elevated Taiwan's standing among global investors.

Geopolitical Impact

The importance of technological sovereignty:
In the current geopolitical environment, semiconductor technology has become a central bargaining chip in great-power competition. TSMC's command of the world's most advanced processes gives Taiwan a strategic position in the international community that is difficult to replace.

Leverage in international relations:
TSMC's critical role in the global technology supply chain gives Taiwan a voice on semiconductor issues that major powers must take seriously. The United States, the European Union, and Japan have successively invited TSMC to build fabs through subsidies, demonstrating the real weight of this position.

Security strategy considerations:
The importance that countries attach to semiconductor technology also brings Taiwan new security challenges and opportunities. How to balance the interests of different parties while preserving TSMC's competitive advantage is one of the core issues in Taiwan's diplomacy and security policy.

Personal Qualities and Leadership Style

Combining Vision and Execution

Exceptional strategic vision:
Chang's greatest quality is his exceptional strategic vision. He can discern industry trends and foresee future directions. This foresight was a key factor in TSMC's success.

Pragmatic execution:
In addition to vision, Chang has outstanding execution ability. He can turn strategic concepts into concrete action plans and track every implementation detail. This combination of strategic thinking and execution is quite rare in the business world.

A lifelong learning attitude:
Even at an advanced age, Chang maintained the habit of broad reading and attention to industry development. He has publicly stated that he continues to study literature and philosophy, an attitude that kept his thinking sharp in later life.

Characteristics of His Leadership Style

Charismatic leadership:
Chang possesses strong personal charisma and persuasive power, enabling him to motivate teams to work toward common goals. His speeches and essays consistently express complex concepts clearly, earning him deep respect from employees and industry figures.

Commitment to rational decision-making:
When facing major decisions, Chang consistently insisted on rational analysis and made judgments based on facts and data, avoiding decisions distorted by emotion or political considerations.

Practicing long-term thinking:
Chang consistently adhered to long-term thinking and was not swayed by short-term difficulties or benefits. At the deepest point of the 2008 financial crisis, he still approved R&D budgets for advanced processes. This long-term perspective allowed TSMC to widen the gap with competitors after the crisis.

Honors and Recognition

International Awards and Recognition

IEEE Medal of Honor:
Chang received multiple honors from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), important recognition of his contributions to the development of semiconductor technology.

Honorary doctorates from multiple countries:
Several leading universities, including Stanford University, MIT, and National Tsing Hua University, awarded Chang honorary doctorates in recognition of his contributions to the technology industry and education.

Recognition by business magazines:
Chang has repeatedly been named by international business magazines such as Fortune and BusinessWeek as one of the leading technology industry leaders of his time, establishing his position in the global business community.

Recognition in Taiwan

Government decorations:
Taiwan's government awarded Chang several important decorations in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Taiwan's economic development and technological progress.

Respect from industry:
Taiwan's industrial community honors Chang as the "father of semiconductors." His experience and wisdom have become a model for later entrepreneurs.

Recognition of social influence:
Beyond commercial achievements, Chang's social influence has also been widely recognized. His contributions to Taiwan's social development have received high praise from many sectors.

Philosophical Reflections and Life Wisdom

Understanding Success

The combination of capability and opportunity:
Chang believes success requires the combination of capability and opportunity. Capability is the foundation, but one must also seize the moment. He emphasizes the importance of preparation: opportunities always favor those who are prepared.

The value of long-term persistence:
He emphasizes the importance of long-term persistence, believing that true success requires the accumulation of time and cannot be rushed. TSMC's success is the result of long-term persistence.

The necessity of innovation:
Chang believes innovation is a condition for survival in the technology industry. TSMC's history shows that once a company stops breaking through in process technology, competitors will fill the gap.

Reflections on Life

Balance between work and life:
Although his career has been highly successful, Chang also emphasizes the importance of work-life balance. He enjoys reading and listening to music, interests that provide him with spiritual nourishment.

Bearing social responsibility:
Chang believes successful entrepreneurs have a responsibility to give back to society. He has donated to academic institutions such as National Tsing Hua University, participated in discussions on education policy, and offered concrete recommendations for reforming Taiwan's higher education.⁵

The importance of succession:
He places great importance on passing on knowledge and experience, not only by cultivating successors within the company but also by sharing his experience and wisdom through many channels.

Historical Evaluation

When Morris Chang retired in 2018, TSMC's market capitalization had surpassed Intel's, making it the world's most valuable semiconductor company.⁴ In 31 years, he proved a counterintuitive proposition: a foundry that designs no chips of its own can become the manufacturing foundation of the entire digital age.

From Ningbo, Zhejiang, to Harvard and MIT, and from senior executive at Texas Instruments to giving up a comfortable American life at age 54 to return to Taiwan, each of his turns was not the mainstream choice. Yet every outcome pointed in the same direction. TSMC's position today is both the result of competition in semiconductor technology and the result of the bet he placed in 1987 on a business model that few people believed in.

In 2024, TSMC's market capitalization exceeded NT$10 trillion, making it one of Asia's most valuable technology companies. This scale would have been difficult to imagine when he made that bet in 1987, and it is the clearest annotation to his life's work.

References:

Morris Chang received a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1964. See: Morris Chang Autobiography, Volume II, Global Views Commonwealth Publishing, 2019. https://www.books.com.tw/products/0011005569 ↩
Sun Yun-suan (1913-2006) served as general manager of Taiwan Power Company, minister of economic affairs, and premier of the Executive Yuan (1978-1984). During his tenure, he strongly advocated the development of semiconductors and technology industries and is regarded as an important driver of Taiwan's high-technology industrial development. See: Wikipedia entry "Sun Yun-suan" https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%AB%E9%81%8B%E7%92%87 ↩
TSMC's founding date and initial capital. See: TSMC Annual Report 1987. TSMC. https://investor.tsmc.com/english/annual-reports ↩
Morris Chang formally retired on June 5, 2018, ending his 31-year career at TSMC. See: Wikipedia entry "Morris Chang" https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E5%BC%B5%E5%BF%A0%E8%AC%80 ↩
By 2018, TSMC's market capitalization had surpassed Intel's, making it one of the world's most valuable semiconductor companies. See: Wikipedia entry "Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company" https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E7%A9%8D%E9%AB%94%E9%9B%BB%E8%B7%AF%E8%A3%BD%E9%80%A0 ↩