Trump says taxpayers will get GlobalFoundries shares as US stake grows
GlobalFoundries' chief executive tells Reuters the Commerce Department will take a stake of about 4%, lifting the government's holding to 7%.
Published
President Trump says US taxpayers will receive shares in GlobalFoundries, the chipmaker tied to a new US-Japan semiconductor initiative.
GlobalFoundries chief executive Tim Breen told Reuters the Commerce Department will take an equity stake of about 4% in the company, bringing the government's total stake to 7%. The stake is linked to an amendment of GlobalFoundries' existing CHIPS and Science Act award, according to Investing.com, which reports that $955 million is being reallocated to speed up investment in silicon photonics, silicon-germanium and advanced packaging at the company's Malta and Burlington, Vermont, plants.
GlobalFoundries separately announced it has been chosen to operate two new fabs in Malta, New York, under a US-Japan programme offering up to $21 billion in funding, made possible by the trade and investment agreement Trump struck with Japan. The National reports that Japan is providing all the capital for the two fabs, with GlobalFoundries supplying manufacturing and technical expertise. That agreement, struck last year, lowered US tariffs on Japanese imports from 25% to 15% in exchange for a $550 billion Japanese investment commitment in the US economy, according to The National. GlobalFoundries is majority owned by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company.
Shares in GlobalFoundries are trading about 4.9% higher, at $48.99, as of 10am ET, The National reports. The announcement follows a pattern in the administration of publicising taxpayer-linked stakes in named companies, echoing the Becton Dickinson pledge Trump credited to tariff policy. Unlike the Japanese financing for the Alaska LNG project, which came with specific dollar figures and equity percentages, the GlobalFoundries stake announced by Trump carries no valuation, share count or stated mechanism for how shares would reach taxpayers, leaving the claim without a figure that can be checked against the stock's trading price.