Wally Liaw: Supermicro co-founder charged in a 2026 export case

1Co-founder, director and sales executive, 1993–2018

analysisYih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw co-founded Supermicro and was a director from the company's inception in September 1993. Supermicro's 2011 proxy statement described him as Vice President of International Sales, Corporate Secretary and a director, and as Vice President of Engineering at the computer company Great Tek from 1988 to 1991; that board listed him among its Class II directors and did not count him among its four independent members. SEC insider records list him as a director and as Secretary & VP of International Sales. According to Supermicro's March 2026 proxy statement, he was an employee holding executive positions, including Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Corporate Secretary, and a board member from 1993 until January 2018. ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

analysisOn January 30, 2018 Supermicro announced that Liaw, then Senior Vice President of International Sales, had resigned that day, also from the board, together with Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Phidias Chou and Chief Financial Officer Howard Hideshima. The 2026 proxy statement explains that he resigned from all positions during a period in which Supermicro was not current in its SEC filings, after the completion of an Audit Committee investigation and in connection with a restructuring of the sales organization undertaken to remediate material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. A change log of the Dutch commercial register, known from an aggregator's copy, records that he left as managing director of Super Micro Computer B.V. on the same date. Supermicro's fiscal 2017 annual report had recorded one late Section 16(a) ownership report by him for that year. ² ³ ⁶ ⁷

documentedA change log of the Dutch commercial register for Super Micro Computer B.V. records that Yih-Shyan Wally Liaw left as managing director (bestuurder) on January 30, 2018, when Perry Gustav Hayes took office; Hayes left on May 29, 2020, when another director took office who served until October 16, 2021; Vikranth Malyala took office on October 16, 2021 and Ying Chen on September 1, 2022. The log also records an amendment of the articles on June 29, 2006 and issued and paid-up capital set at EUR 18,400. ⁶

qualification: Secondary record: an aggregator's copy of register announcements; the register extract itself is not among the records reviewed.

sources in this section

Super Micro Computer, Inc. definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the February 2011 annual meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 18 Jan 2011
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 8-K reporting officer changes (January 30, 2018) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 30 Jan 2018
Super Micro Computer, Inc. definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2026 annual meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 3 Mar 2026
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 31 Aug 2026
Corporate registry source · src-022 identified by category only · Corporate registry
Corporate registry source · src-030 identified by category only · Corporate registry
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 (filed May 17, 2019) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 17 May 2019

2Return in 2021 and resignation in 2026

analysisAfter leaving, Liaw was retired from February 2018 until June 2020, when he became President of 2CRSi Corporation, a server maker headquartered in Strasbourg, France. He returned to Supermicro as a consultant on business development in May 2021, rejoined full time as Senior Vice President, Business Development in August 2022, was reappointed to the board in December 2023 and was re-elected to a three-year term in January 2024. The March 2026 proxy statement listed him, with Charles Liang and Sara Liu, as one of the three directors not determined to be independent. ¹

analysisOn March 20, 2026, the day after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against him, Supermicro announced in a press release that Liaw had resigned from its board with immediate effect, leaving eight directors and no change to the committee structure; the release gave no reason and did not mention the indictment. The fiscal 2026 annual report records his resignation from the board as effective March 20, 2026. ² ³ ⁴

sources in this section

Super Micro Computer, Inc. definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2026 annual meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 3 Mar 2026
Super Micro Computer press release on the resignation of Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw and the appointment of an acting Chief Compliance Officer (Exhibit 99.2 to Form 8-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 20 Mar 2026
SEC EDGAR filing index of Super Micro Computer, Inc.: Forms 8-K, October 2021 to October 2026 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 31 Aug 2026

3Shareholdings and family interests

analysisBefore the 2007 initial public offering Liaw beneficially owned 3,766,874 Supermicro shares (17.0%) at December 31, 2006, including 600,000 shares in a grantor retained trust of which his spouse was trustee, 600,000 in one of which he was trustee and 1,760,000 in the Liaw Family Trust, of which he and his spouse were trustees. His holding was 3,546,146 shares (9.2%) at December 29, 2010 and 1,721,895 shares (3.4%) at March 31, 2019, including 1,582,597 shares in the family trust. At January 31, 2026, while still a director, he beneficially owned 15,546,165 shares (2.6%), of which 15,184,220 were held by the Liaw Family Trust, plus options and restricted stock units vesting within 60 days; that share count follows the ten-for-one stock split that took effect on October 1, 2024, so it is not comparable with the earlier counts, while the percentages show his stake falling. ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

analysisLiaw's family also has stakes in Ablecom Technology Inc. and Compuware Technology Inc. Supermicro's 2007 registration statement recorded that he and his wife owned about 5.2% of Ablecom at September 30, 2006, and that Charles Liang, Sara Liu, Liaw, Steve Liang and their relatives together owned over 80% of it. Later filings report Ablecom holdings of his relatives instead: certain family members owned about 11.7% at June 30, 2017 and throughout fiscal 2018 and 2019, and the filings for fiscal 2024 to 2026 attribute about 11.7% of Ablecom and 8.7% of Compuware to a sibling of Liaw. The filings do not name the sibling or the family members, and no record reviewed identifies them. The fiscal 2026 annual report adds that Liaw was no longer an employee or director of Supermicro at June 30, 2026. ¹ ³ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁵ ⁴

sources in this section

Super Micro Computer, Inc. registration statement, Amendment No. 2 to Form S-1 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 18 Jan 2007
Super Micro Computer, Inc. definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the February 2011 annual meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 18 Jan 2011
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 (filed May 17, 2019) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 17 May 2019
Super Micro Computer, Inc. definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2026 annual meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 3 Mar 2026
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 25 Feb 2025
Super Micro Computer, Inc. definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2020 annual meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 21 Apr 2020
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 19 Dec 2019
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 31 Aug 2026

4The 2026 indictment

analysisOn March 19, 2026 the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Liaw, Ruei-Tsang (Steven) Chang and Ting-Wei (Willy) Sun with conspiring to divert to China high-performance servers assembled in the United States that integrate U.S. artificial-intelligence technology. Each was charged with conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act, conspiring to smuggle goods from the United States and conspiring to defraud the United States. Liaw and Sun were arrested that day in the Northern District of California, and both entered pleas of not guilty on April 1, 2026. These are allegations in charging documents, which call the company only the “U.S. Manufacturer” and do not name its customer “Company-1”; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. Sun later pleaded guilty, on October 8, 2026, to a four-count superseding information; Liaw's trial is set for March 29, 2027, he remained on bail with no verdict at the October 2026 cutoff, and the docket shows no arrest or appearance by Chang. ¹ ²

analysisThe indictment describes Liaw as a co-founder, board member and Senior Vice President of Business Development of a publicly traded information technology company headquartered in San Jose, California, who oversaw members of its global sales teams, including Chang, a general manager in the company's Taiwan office; it describes Sun as a third-party broker and “fixer” who worked with them. Neither the indictment nor the Justice Department release names the manufacturer. Supermicro's fiscal 2026 annual report refers to three individuals “either employed or associated with the Company at the time” as “three former associates”, and states that it received a grand jury subpoena for documents on them, on the facts in the indictment and on its compliance program and internal controls. Supermicro itself is not charged. ¹ ³ ² ⁴

attributedThe indictment describes Liaw as a co-founder, board member and Senior Vice President of Business Development of a publicly traded information technology company headquartered in San Jose, California (the "U.S. Manufacturer"), who oversaw members of its global sales teams, including Chang, a general manager in the manufacturer's Taiwan office. It describes Sun as a third-party broker and "fixer" who worked with Liaw, Chang and others to divert U.S. export-controlled technology to China. ¹ ³ ²

qualification: These are allegations in charging documents filed by federal prosecutors; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. The charging papers call the company only the "U.S. Manufacturer" and do not name Company-1.
response: Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026.
outcome: Sun pleaded guilty on October 8, 2026; the charges against Liaw and Chang remain pending.

analysisAccording to the indictment, from about 2024 the defendants caused the sale of at least about $2.5 billion of the manufacturer's servers to a Southeast Asian company it calls “Company-1”, used as a pass-through to divert servers to China. The prosecutors allege that in June 2024 Liaw thanked a Company-1 executive for the “help for June” and directed transfers of tens of millions of dollars from Company-1 so that the manufacturer could place GPU allocation orders and reserve inventory for diversion; that when the compliance team put a hold on shipments and began an audit in late 2024 he urged its staff to “speed this process up” and afterwards had Company-1 put data-centre leases in place; that Chang and Sun drafted answers for a further compliance review at his request in April 2025, after which Company-1 bought at least about $510 million of servers; and that after Sun and Chang staged non-functioning “dummy” servers to pass an audit in July and August 2025, Sun texted Liaw on August 14, 2025 that it had covered “2,107 units in three warehouses” and Liaw replied “That's spectacular!”. Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026, and there is no verdict on these allegations. ¹ ³ ² ⁵

attributedAccording to the indictment, since about 2024 the defendants caused the sale of at least about $2.5 billion of the manufacturer's servers to a Southeast Asian company it calls "Company-1", used as a pass-through, with payments transiting financial institutions in the Southern District of New York; a substantial portion were servers assembled in the United States and then diverted to China. Between late April and mid-May 2025 alone, over about $510 million of U.S.-assembled servers with Nvidia GPUs, subject to U.S. export controls, were allegedly sold to Company-1 and diverted to China. ¹ ³ ² ⁵

qualification: These are allegations in charging documents filed by federal prosecutors; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. The charging papers call the company only the "U.S. Manufacturer" and do not name Company-1. The amounts are the prosecutors' figures.
response: Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026.
outcome: Sun pleaded guilty on October 8, 2026 to a superseding information covering conduct from October 2023 to March 19, 2026; there is no verdict on the indictment's allegations against Liaw or Chang.

attributedThe indictment alleges that in an internal spreadsheet of the manufacturer's top customers for the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2024, Company-1 ranked as the eleventh most profitable customer worldwide, with about $99.7 million of revenue in the quarter, although it lacked the capacity to store or use the servers it bought. It alleges that in June 2024 Liaw thanked an executive of Company-1 for the "help for June" and directed that tens of millions of dollars be transferred from Company-1 to the manufacturer so that it could place Nvidia GPU allocation orders and reserve inventory for diversion. ³ ²

qualification: These are allegations in charging documents filed by federal prosecutors; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. The charging papers call the company only the "U.S. Manufacturer" and do not name Company-1.
response: Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026.

attributedThe indictment alleges that by late 2024 the growth in Company-1's orders led the manufacturer's compliance team to place a temporary hold on shipments and start an audit, and that Liaw and Chang worked to lift the hold and undermine it: Chang allegedly conspired with a Company-1 executive to keep auditors out of the data-centre areas where the servers were supposedly held and arranged for an auditor he called "friendly", while Liaw urged compliance staff to "speed this process up". After Company-1 cleared the audit, Liaw allegedly directed that it put in place data-centre lease agreements, which the indictment says were often falsified by Chang. ³ ²

qualification: These are allegations in charging documents filed by federal prosecutors; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. The charging papers call the company only the "U.S. Manufacturer" and do not name Company-1.
response: Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026.

attributedAccording to the indictment, in about April 2025 the manufacturer's compliance team again paused shipments to Company-1; at Liaw's request Chang and Sun drafted responses for the compliance review, and on or about April 18, 2025 the compliance team released the account. Between late April and mid-May 2025 Company-1 then allegedly bought at least about $510 million of U.S.-assembled servers with Nvidia B200 and H200 GPUs, including about 58 servers for about $17.4 million on May 8 and about 60 servers for about $18 million each on May 12 and May 15, 2025, consigned to entities in China through brokers. ³ ²

qualification: These are allegations in charging documents filed by federal prosecutors; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. The charging papers call the company only the "U.S. Manufacturer" and do not name Company-1.
response: Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026.
outcome: Sun pleaded guilty on October 8, 2026.

attributedThe indictment alleges that between July and August 2025 Sun and Chang staged non-functioning "dummy" servers in warehouses rented by Company-1 to pass an audit by the manufacturer's compliance team of servers that had already been diverted to China, while the manufacturer's auditor was off-site enjoying entertainment paid for by Company-1. The audit was completed on or about August 14, 2025; that day Sun allegedly texted Liaw that it had covered "2,107 units in three warehouses" and sent photographs of the staged servers, and Liaw replied "That's spectacular!". ³ ²

qualification: These are allegations in charging documents filed by federal prosecutors; an indictment is an accusation, not a finding. The charging papers call the company only the "U.S. Manufacturer" and do not name Company-1.
response: Liaw pleaded not guilty on April 1, 2026.
outcome: Sun pleaded guilty on October 8, 2026 to a superseding information alleging the July–August 2025 staging of dummy servers for this audit.

sources in this section

U.S. Attorney’s Office, S.D.N.Y. press release: three charged with conspiring to unlawfully divert U.S. artificial intelligence technology to China U.S. Department of Justice · 19 Mar 2026
Court record source · src-068 identified by category only · Court record
Court record source · src-070 identified by category only · Court record
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 31 Aug 2026
Court record source · src-069 identified by category only · Court record

5Other proceedings naming Liaw

analysisLiaw was among the defendants in the securities class action over Supermicro's revenue recognition filed on February 8, 2018 (Hessefort v. Super Micro Computer, Inc.). On March 29, 2021 the court dismissed with prejudice the Section 10(b) claim against him, while refusing to dismiss the claims against Supermicro, Charles Liang and former chief financial officer Howard Hideshima; the action later settled for $18,250,000 with final approval on May 5, 2023, and the plaintiffs' claims were never adjudicated on the merits. ¹ ²

attributedOn February 8, 2018 two putative securities class actions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Supermicro, its Chief Executive Officer and its former Chief Financial Officer (Hessefort v. Super Micro Computer, Inc., No. 18-cv-00838, and United Union of Roofers v. Super Micro Computer, Inc., No. 18-cv-00850), alleging violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act through misrepresentations or omissions about revenue recognition. The appointed lead plaintiff, the New York Hotel Trades Council & Hotel Association of New York City, Inc. Pension Fund, added the senior vice president of investor relations as a defendant. ¹ ²

qualification: Plaintiffs' allegations; the claims were not adjudicated on the merits.
response: Supermicro stated that it believed the allegations were without merit and intended to defend vigorously.
outcome: On March 29, 2021 the court dismissed with prejudice the claims against former head of investor relations Perry Hayes and the Section 10(b) claim against Wally Liaw, and refused to dismiss the claims against Supermicro, Charles Liang and former CFO Howard Hideshima. The parties settled for $18,250,000, of which Supermicro funded $2,000,000, and the court granted final approval on May 5, 2023, resolving the action.

analysisLiaw is also one of the current and former directors and officers named in the federal shareholder derivative suits filed from September 11, 2024 on Supermicro's behalf, in which the company is only a nominal defendant; the consolidated case has been stayed since November 5, 2024, and no court had ruled on the shareholders' allegations by September 30, 2026. In that case the lawyers who had appeared for the company in April 2025 also appeared for Liaw and the other individual defendants on October 8, 2025; on April 28, 2026 the court granted Liaw's motion to substitute counsel, and on May 8, 2026 it admitted Nelson Boxer to appear for him. ³ ⁴

attributedOn September 11, 2024 a shareholder filed a derivative suit, Hollin v. Liang, No. 5:24-cv-06410, in the Northern District of California against current and former directors and officers Shiu Leung (Fred) Chan, Daniel W. Fairfax, Susie Giordano (Susan Mogensen), Charles Liang, Yih-Shyan Liaw, Judy Lin, Sara Liu, Tally Liu, Michael S. McAndrews, Hwei-Ming Tsai, Saria Tseng, Sherman Tuan and David Weigand, with Supermicro as nominal defendant; Robert Blair also appears among the individual defendants. Four similar suits followed in the same court (Latypov, Keritsis, Roy and Jha). They allege derivative claims under Sections 10(b), 14(a) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement and waste, arising from allegedly false and misleading statements about Supermicro's business and financial results. ³ ⁴

qualification: These are allegations brought on the company's behalf by shareholders; no court has ruled on them. A derivative suit seeks recovery for the company, which is named only as a nominal defendant.
response: Supermicro's fiscal-2026 annual report states that the derivative matters are too preliminary to judge whether an adverse outcome is probable or to estimate any possible loss.
outcome: Judge Edward J. Davila stayed the case by stipulation on November 5, 2024 and consolidated the five suits on January 14, 2025 as In re Super Micro Computer, Inc. Derivative Litigation; motions by proposed intervenors were denied on March 31, 2025 and a renewed motion to lift the stay was withdrawn on June 2, 2026. The docket shows no merits ruling through September 30, 2026.

sources in this section

Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-Q/A for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 (filed May 17, 2019) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 17 May 2019
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 25 Aug 2023
Court record source · src-086 identified by category only · Court record
Super Micro Computer, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 31 Aug 2026

Recorded connections

Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Super Micro Computer B.V.Former managing director (bestuurder)reported · Until January 30, 2018 · historical
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Super Micro Computer, Inc.Co-founder and directordocumented · September 1993 to January 30, 2018; again from December 2023 until his resignation effective March 20, 2026 · historical
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Super Micro Computer, Inc.Executive: Vice President, later Senior Vice President, of International Sales and Corporate Secretary; later consultant and Senior Vice President, Business Developmentdocumented · From 1993 until he resigned all positions on January 30, 2018; consultant from May 2021; Senior Vice President, Business Development from August 2022; no longer an employee by June 30, 2026 · historical
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Super Micro Computer, Inc.Shareholder (beneficial owner, largely through family trusts)documented · 17.0% at December 31, 2006; 9.2% at December 29, 2010; 3.4% at March 31, 2019; 2.6% at January 31, 2026 · current at the evidence cutoff
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to The Liaw Family TrustCo-trustee (with his spouse)documented · Recorded in the 2007 registration statement and in filings through January 31, 2026 · current at the evidence cutoff
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to 2CRSi CorporationPresidentdocumented · From June 2020 (between his two periods at Supermicro) · current or historical not established
Super Micro Computer, Inc. and Yih-Shyan (Wally) LiawCo-defendants in the 2018 securities class actiondocumented · Section 10(b) claim against Liaw dismissed with prejudice on March 29, 2021; action settled with final approval on May 5, 2023 · historical
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Super Micro Computer, Inc.Individual defendant in the federal derivative litigation brought on Supermicro's behalf (Supermicro is nominal defendant)documented · From September 11, 2024; stayed, with no merits ruling through September 30, 2026 · current at the evidence cutoff
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Ablecom Technology Inc.Shareholder jointly with his wife (about 5.2%)documented · September 30, 2006 · current or historical not established
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Ablecom Technology Inc.Unnamed relatives of Wally Liaw hold about 11.7% of Ablecom (“certain family members” in the filings for fiscal 2017 to 2019, “a sibling” in those for fiscal 2024 to 2026)documented · June 30, 2017 to June 30, 2026 · current at the evidence cutoff
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Compuware Technology Inc.An unnamed sibling of Wally Liaw holds about 8.7% of Compuwaredocumented · Filings for fiscal 2024 to 2026 · current at the evidence cutoff
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw and Ruei-Tsang (Steven) ChangCharged as co-defendant in United States v. Liaw (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:26-cr-00100)documented · Indictment unsealed March 19, 2026; charges pending at the October 2026 cutoff · current at the evidence cutoff
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw and Ting-Wei (Willy) SunCharged as co-defendant in United States v. Liaw (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:26-cr-00100)documented · Indictment unsealed March 19, 2026; Sun pleaded guilty to a superseding information on October 8, 2026, and the charges against Liaw were pending at the cutoff · current at the evidence cutoff
Ting-Wei (Willy) Sun to Yih-Shyan (Wally) LiawDescribed in the indictment as a third-party broker and “fixer” who worked with himreported · Conduct alleged from about 2024 to the March 2026 indictment · historical
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw to Ruei-Tsang (Steven) ChangOversaw him within the global sales teams, according to the indictmentreported · As described in the indictment unsealed March 19, 2026 · historical