Awesome entrepreneurs will never forget their roots no matter where they are
article Shuyouxun
After Apple X is launched, it will become the world's first smartphone equipped with artificial intelligence chips. However, to make this most awesome chip in history in large quantities, a Chinese cannot do without.
He comes from Taiwan, Baodao. Although he expressed his opinion that he did not touch politics, he repeatedly claimed that he was Chinese when interviewed by a Taiwanese media program, which once made the host very embarrassed.
Zhang Zhongmou does not get involved in politics but never forgets that he is a Chinese
This is such an 86-year-old Chinese man who holds the lifeline of Apple's nuclear "core" in one hand. He is Zhang Zhongmou, the founder and current chairman of TSMC.
IPhone X introduces its processor this way:
TSMC is Apple's exclusive processor supplier
. This A11, including multiple processors from Apple in previous generations, is all from Taiwan Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC). The name of TSMC may not be understood by laymen, but for experts, it can definitely be called deafening. Founded in 1987, TSMC is the world's first and largest professional integrated circuit manufacturing service company.
In 2016, TSMC achieved a net profit of approximately RMB 73 billion with revenue of approximately RMB 207.2 billion, equivalent to a net profit of RMB 200 million per day. With this tsunami, TSMC's market value successfully exceeded one trillion yuan, surpassing , Intel and becoming the world's largest semiconductor company. Its founder and leader are Zhang Zhongmou, a Chinese man who is 86 years old this year.
TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou
Today, the editor will specifically introduce how this old man who does not speak easily about politics but has a Chinese heart, and an old Chinese man who can make global semiconductor industry tremble in every move.
Turbulent childhood, wandering in order to avoid war and disaster
1931, Zhang Zhongmou was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang. China was in turmoil at that time.
In order to avoid the war, the Zhang family kept running around and migrating. Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shanghai, Hong Kong... the footsteps of the Zhang family are left everywhere. Before he became an adult, Zhang Zhongmou lived in 6 cities and studied in 10 schools. He had lived in a long time without a fixed place and was wandering around.
When he was a child, Zhang Zhongmou liked music, played violin, watched movies, and played tennis well. He once told his father that he had a dream of a writer, and that his father could not stand his incompetence and was still innocent and warned that he would not stop his thoughts when he was hungry.
To be honest, if it weren't for being born in that era, there would probably be a lack of semiconductor master in the world and an artist with both talent.
Growth with cheating. Study hard and work hard
Zhang Zhongmou's ability is so strong that he can only describe his true heart as cheating. After getting rid of the war life, along the way, any "small goal" he achieved step by step is enough to be proud of his life:
1949, 18-year-old Zhang Zhongmou entered Harvard University, with more than 1,000 freshmen in the school, and he is the only Chinese. Moreover, in his first year at Harvard, Zhang Zhongmou's grades ranked among the top 10% of the grade.
Harvard Zhang Zhongmou
1950, Zhang’s father and mother also came to the United States. Based on the employment development of Chinese people in the United States at that time, they believed that Zhang Zhongmou should study science and engineering. So, with excellent results, Zhang Zhongmou went there as soon as he wanted to, and obtained his master's degree at the age of 21.
By chance, Zhang Zhongmou stepped into semiconductors that he didn't understand at the age of 24 (the reason will be discussed later). He started with zero foundation and gained a foothold in the industry at the age of 27.
33 received a Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, USA. At this point, his income has entered the middle and upper class of the United States, and he has read Harvard, Massachusetts, and Stanford all the time.
1972, Zhang Zhongmou took office as the senior vice president of , Texas Instruments, and was the third largest figure in this Fortune 500 company. You should know that at this time, Texas Instruments had long become the world's number one, and half of the world's 60,000 employees were under the jurisdiction of Zhang Zhongmou.
In other words, Zhang Zhongmou became the first Chinese to enter the highest level of a large American company at the age of 41.
41-year-old Zhang Zhongmou became the first Chinese to enter the highest level of a large American company
1985, Zhang Zhongmou resigned from his position in the United States and returned to Taiwan, becoming the dean of the Taiwan Institute of Industrial Technology, and at the age of 54, he worked for the rise of Taiwan's semiconductor industry.
1987, Zhang Zhongmou started his own business at the age of 56. For many years, TSMC has been the world's largest semiconductor manufacturing foundry company and is an unshakable industry leader.
, and Zhang Zhongmou deserves to be the godfather of Taiwan's semiconductors, and his chip king is trembling in every move.
Amazing decision. A stunning relationship with semiconductors.
Why did Zhang Zhongmou, who graduated from MIT majoring in machinery, choose to step into the semiconductor industry?
What you absolutely could not have imagined is that all the reasons that pushed him to make this decision were just for $1.
At that time, Zhang Zhongmou, who was looking for a job, received 4 job opportunities. Among them, what satisfies him the most is the famous Ford Motor, which is professional and has good treatment; the alternative to
is the semiconductor company he finally chose, Civana, who was unknown, but his salary is one US dollars higher than Ford.
Zhang Zhongmou once regarded Ford's as the first choice for work
One US dollar is not much, but Zhang Zhongmou thinks this is not a problem of money, but why Ford gives one US dollar less.
So he said to Ford with confidence: "I respectfully said, I really want to come to Ford, but another company's monthly salary is higher than Ford. Can you please consider increasing the starting salary?" The response from
was: We only receive this treatment, if you want to come, you will come, and if you don't come, you will lose it.
This time, Zhang Zhongmou, who had already made up his mind to go to Ford, forced him to go to Liangshan. He immediately decided to give up Ford and turned around to embrace the ignorant semiconductor!
The willfulness in the early years, after years of practice, it has become Zhang Zhongmou, who is now resolute and vigorous in
, who has opened a new model, and TSMC today is definitely a miracle in the semiconductor industry. Zhang Zhongmou has pioneered a business model made of splitting out crystals from traditional semiconductor factories, and also pioneered the foundry of crystals. However, the latter is in a sense a by-product of the former. Before the birth of TSMC, traditional semiconductor factories also included a one-stop IC design and production. It is precisely because of Zhang Zhongmou doing this that IC design giants such as , Qualcomm, , and NXP were born. Then we can also say that Zhang Zhongmou's approach not only gave TSMC vitality, but also gave the world's semiconductor world a brand new look.
split design and production are actually equivalent to reducing the burden on the enterprise. IC design is an extremely technical project. A large number of underlying technologies and front-end applications are combined with each other, which consumes a lot of energy from traditional semiconductor manufacturers. At the same time, the pace of society is developing rapidly, and IC design factories must keep up with the world's footsteps. Moore's Law is a true reflection of the increasing difficulty of IC designers' work as the world's timeline changes.
However, production is an extremely complex link. The traditional semiconductor design-connected production model is easy to produce the phenomenon of "leading and snake-headed". This was also the reason why the semiconductor industry was developing slowly around the world at that time, and it also affected the client due to the chain reaction. If we include the manufacturer's sales system, we will probably be exhausted even before the construction starts.
cooperation with Intel has become a major turning point in TSMC's development. An employee recalled the situation at that time and said that Zhang Zhongmou personally went to the factory and followed Intel people to see the made. And when adjusting the equipment, we also participate in and patrol it. Intel is not just a ticket seller for TSMC, it gives TSMC an important learning opportunity: how the leading brother conquers the world, and young children have to learn it.
TSMC takes every step of the way, and finally in 1995, its revenue exceeded US$1 billion.TSMC, which was just listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1994, accelerated its pace. In 1997, TSMC issued American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in the United States and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the TSM as the code.
Zhang Zhongmou won the world's praise. In 1999, he was selected as one of the best managers in the world by the American Business Weekly. This is an endorsement of Zhang Zhongmou, and it is also an endorsement of TSMC, which embodies Zhang Zhongmou's management methods.
In his later years, he took the lead and turned the tide
In 2005, 74-year-old Zhang Zhongmou had already handed over his position as CEO of TSMC and appointed Cai Lixing, a capable general who had followed him for many years, to take over.
Who knew that during the 2008 financial tsunami, Cai Lixing not only failed to lead TSMC to cope with the good situation, but even once slid into the abyss. At this time, Zhang Zhongmou proposed that the board of directors remove Cai Lixing and take power back into his hands. In June 2009, four years after resigning from his position as CEO of TSMC, Zhang Zhongmou re-appointed as CEO at the age of 78, and also served as the current chairman position.
The old man finally stood up again, shocking the semiconductor industry with his 78-year-old age. Unlike the return of Liu Chuanzhi that year, Zhang Zhongmou has been sitting here until now.
This time, the new iPhone product was released, and some predictions were made that Zhang Zhongmou's wealth may follow suit to US$1 billion.
Zhang Zhongmou's every move touched the Taiwan stock market
When TSMC was established, both this company and the entire Taiwan semiconductor industry were ordinary people. However, it is precisely because of Zhang Zhongmou's courage and foresight that today's TSMC was found. In 2016, TSMC's market value reached US$156 billion, accounting for 17% of the total value of Taiwan's stock market. It is no exaggeration to say that if Zhang Zhongmou coughs, the Taiwanese stock market will shake.
On January 31, 2017, the 86-year-old man fell in Hawaii. Even though it was nothing serious, this incident alarmed all walks of life in Taiwan. This fall caused the Taiwan stock market earthquake. The reason is simple. TSMC accounts for 17% of Taiwan's market value, nearly three times the second place. For every 1% decline in the company's stock price, the Taiwan market fell by 16 points.
Life creed Super planning and execution
86-year-old Zhang Zhongmou still believes in three creeds today:
1) Everyone talks about living until they grow old and learning until they grow old. If it is not for the purpose, discipline and planning implementation, it is basically equivalent to nonsense.
2) Learning is a very serious matter. You can’t just think about studying in your heart, or just read through any book.
3) Lifelong learning must be planned. Set long-term and short-term goals, you must have a plan for what books you need to read and what aspects of information you need to know, including who you want to communicate with, and then plan out the implementation steps.
Summary: Looking at the whole of China, only entrepreneurs like Chu Shijian and Liu Chuanzhi can be on par with him. If you add a Chinese semiconductor label, the old man deserves the best in the world. In this old Chinese, we not only see halo and success, but also see that even though he grows brightly, he is still using his unstoppable steps to infinitely broaden his life thickness. Such spirit really makes the younger generation embarrassed.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-