Arm reportedly wrests back control of its rogue China limb
(2022/04/29)
- Reference: 1651216326
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/04/29/arm_china_ceo_ousted/
- Source link:
SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm has reportedly regained control of its Chinese joint venture.
The Chinese arm (as it were) has been of concern since June 2020 when [1]CEO Alan Wu was fired over conflicts of interest. But Wu refused to go or to hand over the documents that would allow the appointment of a new leader.
SoftBank owns 49 per cent of the Chinese venture, and as a minority stakeholder could not order Wu’s removal.
[2]
The Japanese tech investment giant nonetheless wanted Wu to go, for two reasons.
[3]
[4]
One was Wu’s strategy to experiment with Arm tech and to explore the creation of entirely new designs – a direction that saw one semiconductor analyst [5]label Arm China as "completely rogue" and Wu as having conducted a "heist" of Arm's IP. As Chinese firms credibly stand accused of stealing and repurposing IP from around the world, those allegations were not fanciful.
The other reason SoftBank wanted to be rid of Wu was that Arm China's uncertain status made it hard for the firm to launch an initial public offering of Arm. That was its fallback plan after a planned sale of the chip design biz to Nvidia [6]collapsed (a misfortune Wu [7]welcomed ).
[8]Semiconductor firms: China lockdowns play havoc with supply and demand
[9]Almost two-thirds of SMIC's Shanghai employees are living at work
[10]SoftBank aims to keep control of Arm after IPO – report
Today, newswires [11]Nikkei and [12]Reuters both report that Wu has been removed.
Chinese outlet [13]ijiwei.com has also reported the news, the day after it carried a [14]story in which Wu said rumored moves to have him replaced were illegal and reports to that effect were using foreign media as a catspaw to slur him.
[15]
SoftBank execs have reportedly been appointed as Arm China's senior officers.
The Register has sought comment from Arm, Arm China, and SoftBank, to confirm the situation and will update this story if we receive substantive comment. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/11/arm_china_ceo_allen_wu/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/02/arm_china_response/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/08/arm_cancels_sale_to_nvidia/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/23/arm_china_ceo_wants_independence/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/semiconductor_firms_china_lockdowns_mess/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/almost_twothirds_of_smics_shanghai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/22/softbank_arm_ipo/
[11] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/SoftBank-owned-Arm-ousts-CEO-of-Chinese-joint-venture
[12] https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-04-28/arms-path-to-ipo-smoothened-after-its-chinese-venture-ousts-ceo
[13] https://ijiwei.com/n/816498
[14] https://ijiwei.com/n/816364
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Chinese arm (as it were) has been of concern since June 2020 when [1]CEO Alan Wu was fired over conflicts of interest. But Wu refused to go or to hand over the documents that would allow the appointment of a new leader.
SoftBank owns 49 per cent of the Chinese venture, and as a minority stakeholder could not order Wu’s removal.
[2]
The Japanese tech investment giant nonetheless wanted Wu to go, for two reasons.
[3]
[4]
One was Wu’s strategy to experiment with Arm tech and to explore the creation of entirely new designs – a direction that saw one semiconductor analyst [5]label Arm China as "completely rogue" and Wu as having conducted a "heist" of Arm's IP. As Chinese firms credibly stand accused of stealing and repurposing IP from around the world, those allegations were not fanciful.
The other reason SoftBank wanted to be rid of Wu was that Arm China's uncertain status made it hard for the firm to launch an initial public offering of Arm. That was its fallback plan after a planned sale of the chip design biz to Nvidia [6]collapsed (a misfortune Wu [7]welcomed ).
[8]Semiconductor firms: China lockdowns play havoc with supply and demand
[9]Almost two-thirds of SMIC's Shanghai employees are living at work
[10]SoftBank aims to keep control of Arm after IPO – report
Today, newswires [11]Nikkei and [12]Reuters both report that Wu has been removed.
Chinese outlet [13]ijiwei.com has also reported the news, the day after it carried a [14]story in which Wu said rumored moves to have him replaced were illegal and reports to that effect were using foreign media as a catspaw to slur him.
[15]
SoftBank execs have reportedly been appointed as Arm China's senior officers.
The Register has sought comment from Arm, Arm China, and SoftBank, to confirm the situation and will update this story if we receive substantive comment. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/11/arm_china_ceo_allen_wu/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/02/arm_china_response/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/08/arm_cancels_sale_to_nvidia/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/23/arm_china_ceo_wants_independence/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/semiconductor_firms_china_lockdowns_mess/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/almost_twothirds_of_smics_shanghai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/22/softbank_arm_ipo/
[11] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/SoftBank-owned-Arm-ousts-CEO-of-Chinese-joint-venture
[12] https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-04-28/arms-path-to-ipo-smoothened-after-its-chinese-venture-ousts-ceo
[13] https://ijiwei.com/n/816498
[14] https://ijiwei.com/n/816364
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ymu3Sy@YpTsgAKY6YJ5BRAAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/