Hsu leads GlobalWafers, one of the world’s largest suppliers of silicon wafers used in making chips. In June the company announced it would invest up to $5 billion in a new wafer plant in Sherman, Texas, that would create as many as 1,500 jobs. The plan, seen as a strategic move, came two months before the U.S. enacted its $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act to attract investment and boost domestic production of semiconductors.
Hsu took the helm of the Hsinchu-headquartered firm—which was born as a spinoff from Taiwan’s Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS)—in 2011. Prior to her top role as chair and CEO, she had been a sales engineer for an equipment supplier to SAS and then joined the company in the same role in 1988.
With a passion for semiconductors made clear by frequently arriving at work by 5 a.m., Hsu has led GlobalWafers to become a publicly-traded company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of nearly $6 billion, backed up by sales of $2.3 billion in 2022. To Hsu, sky’s the limit. She is now eyeing a push into the U.S. solar energy market (See related post here.)