Supermicro execs charged, board shakeup
U.S. prosecutors charged Super Micro employees with conspiring to smuggle roughly $2.5 billion of Nvidia AI chips to China, triggering a sharp share plunge and a board resignation this week. The company said board member Yih‑Shyan "Wally" Liaw resigned and named DeAnna Luna acting chief compliance officer as the legal fallout unfolds. (cnbc.com) (prnewswire.com)
A federal indictment unsealed March 19, 2026 names Yih‑Shyan “Wally” Liaw, Ruei‑Tsang “Steven” Chang and Ting‑Wei “Willy” Sun and says the case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; Liaw and Sun were arrested and will be presented in the Northern District of California while Chang is described as a fugitive. (justice.gov) Prosecutors allege the defendants used false documents, staged “dummy” servers to fool inspections and routed shipments through Taiwan and Southeast Asia to conceal end‑users and transship restricted U.S. AI technology to China. (justice.gov) Supermicro’s March 19 company statement says the firm is not named as a defendant, has placed two employees on administrative leave and terminated its relationship with the contractor identified in the indictment while cooperating with investigators. (supermicro.com) Shares plunged in early trading after the charges — sliding roughly 25% in premarket quotations and wiping an estimated $4.7 billion off market value, with intraday trading forcing the stock to fresh lows for the year. (forbes.com) Securities‑litigation activity followed immediately: at least one plaintiffs’ firm has announced an investor probe and other firms are publicizing potential shareholder claims tied to the company’s stock move. (tmcnet.com) Prosecutors on the case include Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juliana N. Murray, David J. Robles and Kevin T. Sullivan, with trial attorneys from the Justice Department’s National Security Division assisting, signaling a coordinated export‑control and national‑security enforcement effort. (justice.gov)
