Quick Overview

  • Super Micro Computer issued a press release on Tuesday announcing an independent investigation into a March indictment of three individuals no longer associated with the AI server manufacturer.
  • The investigation has no set timeline and comes less than a month after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment. The indictment accuses company co-founder Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw, a sales manager, and a contractor of conspiring to "secretly transfer" servers equipped with cutting-edge American AI technology worth billions of dollars to China.
  • The investigation is led by two independent board members, including former Deloitte audit partner Scott Angel. The board's independent directors have retained the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson; MTO has engaged AlixPartners, which specializes in forensic accounting and audit committee investigations, as an independent advisor, according to the press release.

In-Depth Analysis

This is not the first time Super Micro has come under scrutiny.

The now-defunct short-seller Hindenburg Research published a scathing report on Super Micro in August 2024, detailing "obvious accounting red flags." Following the report, Super Micro delayed the filing of its annual 10-K report and announced it would complete an evaluation of its internal controls.

In December of that year, a special independent committee investigating the integrity of Super Micro's audit committee and management found no evidence of misconduct by management or the board. However, the committee made several recommendations, including that Super Micro should "replace its chief financial officer."

As of Wednesday, the company's website still lists David Weigand as its finance chief—he was appointed CFO in February 2021. A company spokesperson said Super Micro had nothing to add beyond Tuesday's statement and declined to comment on the status of the company's response to the recommendation to replace the CFO.

Last month's indictment charges 71-year-old Liaw, 53-year-old Taiwanese national Ruei-Tsang "Steven" Chang, and 44-year-old Taiwanese contractor Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun, each with one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

At the time the charges were announced, the company said it had suspended Liaw (co-founder, who also served as senior vice president of business development and a board member) and Chang, and "immediately terminated" its relationship with Sun.

On March 20, Liaw resigned from the board, and the company simultaneously announced the appointment of DeAnna Luna as interim chief compliance officer, effective immediately, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

On Tuesday, the San Jose, California-based company noted that it was not named as a defendant in the indictment and that the three indicted individuals no longer have any affiliation with the company.

The company's shares rose 3.1% on Wednesday to close at $23.37, but remain well below the roughly $30 trading level before the indictment was unsealed on March 19.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comments from Super Micro.