By Jonathan Weil

Super Micro Computer shares plunged after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw, a senior vice president and board member at the server maker. He is no ordinary Super Micro official.

Liaw resigned from Super Micro once before, amid an accounting scandal. His return had drawn criticism previously, and now it has proved costly for shareholders.

Liaw co-founded Super Micro in 1993 alongside Super Micro Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Liang and Liang's wife, Sara Liu, another co-founder who is a senior vice president and director.

The indictment charged Liaw and two others with conspiring to smuggle high-end Nvidia chips to China in violation of U.S. export-control laws. A sales manager and a contractor also were charged. Super Micro, which wasn't named a defendant, said it placed Liaw and the other employee on leave and fired the contractor.

Liaw previously resigned in 2018, along with the company's finance chief, after an investigation by Super Micro's audit committee that led the company to restate its financial results. Super Micro paid $17.5 million in 2020 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations of widespread accounting violations.

Liaw returned to Super Micro as a consultant in 2021, then as a senior vice president in 2022, and was re-appointed as a board member in late 2023.

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Super Micro also has disclosed business dealings with a Taiwan company called Ablecom Technology that is owned in part by Liang and Liu, and in part by a sibling of Liaw. Super Micro in its proxy statement said Liang and Liu owned 10.5% of Ablecom as of June 30, 2025, and that Liaw's sibling owned 11.7%. Ablecom's chief executive is Liang's brother.

The disclosures were required because the dealings are considered related-party transactions. Super Micro said it purchased $322 million of products from Ablecom during the 2025 fiscal year, which comprised a majority of Ablecom's sales.

Liaw's indictment comes less than two years after Ernst & Young resigned as Super Micro's auditor. Super Micro hired EY in 2023 to succeed Deloitte & Touche, but EY resigned in October 2024 and never finished an audit for the company.

EY's resignation letter said the firm could no longer rely on representations by Super Micro's management or audit committee. Super Micro fell behind on its financial reports for a while, and later hired BDO as its auditor.

Super Micro's disclosures of the Justice Department investigation have noted that the company received subpoenas "following the publication of a short seller report in August 2024." That report was by Hindenburg Research. One of the report's criticisms: Rehiring Liaw.

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March 20, 2026 12:43 ET (16:43 GMT)

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