TSMC Arizona chairman to retire; no successor named yet

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Rick Cassidy, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) American subsidiary TSMC Arizona Corp., will retire, but the company has yet to name a successor.

After Cassidy made his plans to retire known, TSMC Arizona held a special general meeting and approved a resolution that Cassidy will not continue as chairman and will not remain as a director, TSMC said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) on Tuesday night.

The meeting also approved a plan to appoint TSMC Arizona President Rose Castanares as a director, the company said.

Due to his retirement plan, Cassidy has been named as an advisor to TSMC Arizona, which is in charge of the chipmaker's investments in Arizona.

According to the world's largest contract chipmaker, Cassidy joined TSMC's subsidiary in North America in 1997 as a vice president for customer management and was promoted to be the subsidiary's president and CEO in 2005.

Cassidy, TSMC said, was named as TSMC's vice president in 2008 to supervise the chipmaker's business in the North American market and then took the title of TSMC senior vice president.

Cassidy served as TSMC Arizona president from December 2020 to April 2023 before becoming chairman of the board in April 2023.

TSMC said that during his 27 years at TSMC, Cassidy was dedicated to providing the best service to the company's clients and won their trust, and he made a significant contribution to the fabless IC design model and to the company's growth.

TSMC held a board meeting in Arizona in mid-February, marking the first time that the company held such a meeting in the United States in its 37-year history.

The chipmaker is currently investing US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs.

The first one started mass production in 2024, using the 4-nanometer process, and construction of the second is nearly completed, with the installation of equipment underway. TSMC broke ground on the third fab in late April.

In early March, TSMC pledged to invest an additional US$100 million over the next few years to build three more wafer fabs, two IC packaging plants and one research and development center in Arizona at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a tariff on semiconductors.

But with the Trump administration continuing to threaten tariffs despite TSMC's US$100 billion olive branch, the company hit back in May, warning that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona.