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Updated Tuesday, March 6, 2012 0:05 am TWN, The China Post news staff



	Morris Chang (張忠謀), chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (台灣積體電路製造股份有限公司, TSMC), tells reporters during a press conference yesterday at the company's headquarters in the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park that he will remain chairman indefinitely. Chang also officially inaugurated three “co-CEOs” to take over his other role as CEO of TSMC. (CNA) Enlarge Photo

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TSMC's Chang creates 'trinity' by delegating power across 3 'co-CEOs'

Vowing to remain chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (台灣積體電路製造股份有限公司, TSMC) for as long as he could, Morris Chang (張忠謀), 80, yesterday delegated his executive powers to three “co-CEO's,” saying he is trying to create a “trinity” in the company's revamped organizational structure.

TSMC stocks declined slightly on the news, ending the day at NT$78.9 a share, down NT$0.4 from the previous market closing, although foreign institutional investors, who collectively own a 76-percent stake in the company, called Chang's move “a step in the right direction.”

“I used to hold two batons, one as CEO of TSMC and the other as TSMC chairman,” Chang said in a hastily called press conference yesterday, adding he was giving three men his CEO baton, apparently temporarily.

The three “co-CEOs” are former Senior Vice President for R&D Chiang Shang-Yi (蔣尚義), former Senior Vice President for Operations Mark Liu (劉德音), and former Senior Vice President for Business Development C.C. Wei (魏哲家). The three men will also be executive vice presidents concurrently.

The three men will have until June of 2014 to vie for the position of CEO. Their appointment, effective yesterday, was approved at an extraordinary session of the company board on Friday, March 2, after a “robust” discussion with board members in February.

The appointment of the three “co-CEOs,” which means “we are not even playing the prelude yet,” is intended to groom the company's future CEO, he said, adding the “co-” in the title will be removed when conditions are ripe and when a bona fide CEO has been selected.

Chang indicated he will remain the company's chairman. “I will not relinquish the other baton I am holding as company chairman,” he stressed, adding “I am in perfect health.”

Since founding TSMC in 1987, Chang had given his corner office to a subordinate once before. In 2005, he handed TSMC's CEO position to Rick Tsai (蔡力行), only to replace him in 2009 by himself. All the while, he remained the company chairman. In his role as chairman, he will be directly in charge of the company's finance and legal affairs divisions.

Chang said shortly after his “re-assumption” of his office as TSMC CEO that he foresaw a strategic change in the company, of which the effects would remain largely unseen until three to five years later, and that's when he will officially name a CEO.

The strategic change, according to Chang, has been a steep increase in capital expenditure and an effort to keep prices “within an acceptable range.”

The “succession” question is not confined to Chang and his company. Other electronics industry magnates, such as Hon Hai Group's Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Barry Lam (林百里), the founder and chairman of Quanta Computer (廣達集團), have also been put on health watch by the media because of their relatively advanced age.

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