Rogue Arm China CEO Passes Judgment on Nvidia Deal Gone Bad

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Meanwhile, Arm's IPO faces an Arm China CEO-shaped roadblock.

Arm China Chairman and CEO Allen Wu recently took part in an interview with JW Insights, with the Q&A session published this weekend. Wu was quizzed on just two topics; the impact of the Nvidia buyout failure and if what happened provides any important lessons for Chinese companies.

Wu elaborated and provided further insight into mergers, collaboration, and regulations. However, Wu, widely regarded as a rogue CEO who simply refuses to be fired, seemed oblivious to being one of the biggest problems any Arm IPO filing might face.

Translation: Nvidia's failed acquisition of Arm – is it good or bad news? (Image credit: JW Insights)

In the interview, Wu started by stating the importance of Arm to the whole IT industry chain. Many industry observers have said this before, but it is important for Arm to hold a neutral position, said Wu, claiming that the failure of Nvidia's buyout of Arm was a better outcome for almost everyone except Nvidia.

Next, Wu touched on topics including industry and business regulations getting ever tighter, and therefore making large chip company mergers and acquisitions (M&A) more difficult.

Ramping up the lack of self-awareness levels even higher, Wu went on to suggest that tech companies could look at the Arm China spinoff as a success story. Thus, he advised that tech companies should explore technical and patent licensing and joint ventures (like Arm China) to grow their business rather than following an M&A path.

Wu signed off his interview by wishing for continued industry cooperation "to advance the development of the semiconductor industry and improve human life through technology sharing."

Arm's IPO Faces a Roadblock

Nvidia's failed acquisition of Arm has been a very costly and public failure for the green team. As a result, SoftBank will now seek to monetize its Arm investment by selling off the UK-based chip designer via a stock market IPO.

However, Allen Wu's legal wrangling with Arm, and estimates that roughly 20% of Arm's finances can't be audited due to the opaque way Wu runs the China Division, means that an IPO could be impossible to approve with regulators. In a previous report this month, we quoted Arm's CFO hinting that the company is exploring a path to "resolve some things" regarding Arm China, but (perhaps wisely) didn't reveal any specific plans.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Sudian
    Rouge?
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    Sudian said:
    Rouge?
    Those annoying red shaded people. They're not quite as irritating as rogues though.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    It is more subtle and classy than the old red China.
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    What a nightmare and embarassment for Arm.

    They have to get him out.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    Neilbob said:
    Those annoying red shaded people. They're not quite as irritating as rogues though.
    But what about the "Rouge Rogues"?
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    Kamen Rider Blade said:
    But what about the "Rouge Rogues"?

    Easily defeated by using a dictionary as a bludgeoning weapon.
    Reply
  • boidsonly
    This 20% of Arm is the only legal way the CCP has of using the IP. The guy will never go away as long as the CCP has a use for him/ARM.
    Reply
  • renz496
    digitalgriffin said:
    What a nightmare and embarassment for Arm.

    They have to get him out.
    ARM already tried that before. He take the company seal and hire his own security so ARM can't remove him as ARM China CEO. He pretty much want to make ARM china as his own company. If ARM did not want to go with his term he wants to make a new company and then he also openly said chinese tech firm should invest in his company instead of ARM. He promise to give them much cheaper licensing price than ARM. This is one of the mistake Softbank did when they were so desperate to see big return from acquiring ARM.
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    renz496 said:
    ARM already tried that before. He take the company seal and hire his own security so ARM can't remove him as ARM China CEO. He pretty much want to make ARM china as his own company. If ARM did not want to go with his term he wants to make a new company and then he also openly said chinese tech firm should invest in his company instead of ARM. He promise to give them much cheaper licensing price than ARM. This is one of the mistake Softbank did when they were so desperate to see big return from acquiring ARM.

    They got Al Capone on tax evasion. While I realize he's not in the USA, enough motivation and prodding will get gov't officials to listen.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    Most likely he represents the government or more importantly the CCP.

    This is the most outrageous case of International Corporate Governance gone wrong I've ever heard of. The rule of law is super important and we take it for granted.
    Reply