
The AI boom sends TSMC, the world’s most important chipmaker, up 60 spots on the Global 500
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“If someone had told me 10 years ago that I’d meet two presidents in one week...I would have thought they were joking,” CEO C.C. Wei tells Fortune.
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5 min read
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July 30, 2025
10:30 AM
Fortune
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·Global 500The AI boom sends TSMC, the world’s most important chipmaker, up 60 spots on the Global 500By Lionel LimBy Lionel LimAsia ReporterLionel LimAsia ReporterLionel Lim is a Singapore-based reporter covering the Asia-Pacific region.SEE FULL BIO C.C
Wei, chairman and CEO of TSMC answers questions during the company's annual holders' meeting in Hsinchu on June 3, 2025.I-Hwa Cheng—AFP via Getty ImagesTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is, undoubtedly, one of the world’s most important companies
And that makes its top corporate executive, the slightly unassuming C.C
Wei, one of the world’s most important people
Wei took center stage in March, when he joined U.S. president Donald Trump in the White House to announce an additional $100 billion investment into TSMC’s Arizona operations
Wei then met Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te after meeting Trump. “If someone had told me 10 years ago that I’d meet two presidents in one week to discuss hundreds of billions of dollars in investments to expand our global foot, I would have thought they were joking,” CEO C.C
Wei told Fortune in written s
On this year’s Global 500, Fortune’s annual ranking of the world’s largest companies by revenue, TSMC rose 60 places to reach No. 126 on this year’s Global 500, ing a 30% jump in 2024 revenue to reach over $90 billion
It’s also the 13th most fitable company on this year’s ranking, earning $36 billion in fit, putting it ahead of Bank of America, Exxon Mobil and Toyota
And TSMC is one of just two non-Western companies to surpass $1 trillion in market value, alongside Saudi Aramco
TSMC joined the Global 500 in 2015, coming in at No. 472
It’s steadily climbed the rankings since then, overtaking its U.S. rival Intel in 2023
The AI boom is set to pel TSMC even further
In its most recent quarter, TSMC’s revenue rose by more than 40% year-on-year to hit $30.1 billion
Sixty percent of its sales came from its high-performance computing division, which encompasses AI and 5G applications. “TSMC’s near-term outlook is especially strong, fuelled by robust AI demand and sustained capital expenditures from cloud service viders,” said William Li, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Re
Wendell Huang, TSMC’s chief financial officer, says he expects AI to continue accelerating the company’s , with a compound annual growth rate in the mid-40% range over the next five years
And while Huang is paying attention to growing consumer and enterprise use of AI, he’s also interested in a relatively newer development: “sovereign AI”
Many governments are now seeking more domestic control over the entire AI stack, including datasets, data centers, AI models and applications
The goal is to foster local development and reduce reliance on the U.S. and China, the current leaders in AI
Greater investment in local facilities will, in turn, drive demand for AI chips Nvidia’s GPUs, and in turn boost the sales of chipmakers TSMC
What makes TSMC a market leader? Analysts point to TSMC’s dominance in leading-edge nologies, its ability to der high-performance chips, and its close connections with key clients Nvidia and Apple for its success
But Huang thinks TSMC’s success is due to something more fundamental: The company is purely a contract chipmaker, with no ducts of its own
That means it can’t, and won’t, compete with its customers
Take two of TSMC’s closest competitors: Samsung Electronics and Intel
In addition to making chips, both companies also sell their own devices
Samsung sells smartphones while Intel sells computers and other personal computers–ducts that may compete with what their potential customers may also be selling
Huang added that TSMC can work with customers years in advance, allowing the chipmaker to invest and innovate to make the right duct for customers
Geo and global expansion But TSMC’s importance, as well as its headquarters on the island of Taiwan, means the chipmaker is one of a handful of companies whose decisions have geopolitical consequences. “TSMC’s elevated strategic importance means it can’t avoid being affected by U.S.-China competition,” said Galen Zeng, senior re manager for semiconductor re at IDC Asia/Pacific
U.S. export control measures bar TSMC from exporting its most sophisticated chips to China; the company also stopped exporting chips to Huawei, which is on Washington’s trade blacklist, since 2020
Yet late last year the U.S. launched a be to investigate how TSMC-manufactured ducts made their way into devices from Huawei
TSMC later blamed a customer for secretly funnelling chips to Huawei
Still, TSMC may benefit from a brief pause in the U.S.-China conflict, after Washington allowed companies Nvidia to start selling some of their leading AI cessors to China again. “It’s very positive news for them, and in return it’s very positive news for TSMC,” Wei told holders a few weeks ago
TSMC currently has most of its plants in Taiwan
It has two in mainland China and has opened new foundries in the U.S. state of Arizona and on the Japanese island of Kumamoto
TSMC is also currently building a new plant in Germany
The chipmaker consistently says that overseas foundries are a direct response to customer needs
In his , Wei said many customers tell him how “crucial” these overseas factories are, “emphasizing the importance of TSMC’s world-class manufacturing expertise with geographic flexibility in duction.” He said he didn’t consider himself an “expert in geo,” adding that he takes pride “in being attuned to dering what my customers require.” Wei also remembered how founder Morris Chang reminded executives to “jump through hoops” for its customers
And he took a humble position on TSMC’s continued climb up the global rankings of the world’s largest companies by revenue. “It’s a great encouragement to go up on the Fortune Global 500,” he wrote, “but the best sign of our success is if our customers are on the list—or even higher than TSMC.”
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