A court ruling lays bare how Nexperia’s Chinese CEO ignored warnings, undermined governance and bet the company’s future on maintaining Chinese control – to be pushed aside when sanctions hit.
Sidelined CEO “Wing” Zhang Xuezheng resisted measures that would have enabled Nexperia to qualify as a fully Dutch entity, which would have shielded the Nijmegen-based chipmaker from new US export restrictions. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZK) snatched control from Zhang exactly one day after it became clear that the company would be subject to the same curbs as its parent Wingtech.
According to a Dutch Enterprise Chamber ruling and a letter to parliament from EZK Minister Vincent Karremans published on Tuesday (links in Dutch), Nexperia’s management contacted EZK in late 2023 to request assistance in being recognized as a Dutch semiconductor company. This move followed several incidents in which the firm’s Chinese ownership prompted scrutiny from Western governments. The acquisition of Delft-based startup Nowi was eventually cleared by the Dutch government, but the acquisition of the Newport Wafer Fab in Wales was retroactively blocked.
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