An Intel shareholder has initiated a lawsuit against the company’s management in the Delaware Court of Chancery, alleging that the decision to sell a 10% stake to the United States was motivated by threats emanating from U.S. President Donald Trump, as reported by the Financial Times (FT).
Richard Paisner, a minority shareholder in Intel, contends that the CEO and the corporation’s board of directors, when executing the transaction, were primarily driven by fears of personal attacks directed at them by the Trump administration.
FT analysts labeled Trump’s decision to purchase a 10% stake in Intel as “sheer madness.”
The plaintiff described the agreement to transfer a ten percent holding in the company to the U.S. as an “unlawful contract that gives the U.S. government Intel shares valued at $11 billion with absolutely no consideration received in return, as a response to governmental extortion threats.”
In the filing, Paisner asserts that Intel’s leadership failed in their duties to the shareholders because they were more preoccupied with “safeguarding their personal reputations to avoid assaults from President Trump and his supporters on social media and beyond.”
Paisner claimed the deal was structured so that Intel CEO Brian Krzanich could secure his position.
Last August, Trump publicly called for Tan’s resignation, citing a conflict of interest. This demand followed Republican Senator Tom Cotton raising concerns regarding the CEO’s ties to Chinese firms.
The U.S. took control of the 10% Intel portion in the exact same month. Trump maintained that the government “paid nothing” for the shares, which are valued at $11 billion.
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