The Dutch government seized control of Nexperia because its CEO 
Zhang Xuezheng (张学政) aka Wing Zhang wanted to use Nexperia's money to support another company of his, wafer manufacturer WingSkySemi (鼎泰匠芯). He appointed front men to Nexperia while attempting to fire the company’s European executives, and this led to a heated conflict, according to a ruling by the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal published on Oct 14.
Nexperia is owned by Wingtech, founded and led by Wing, who is also the CEO of Nexperia. Wing also owns other tech companies in China, including WingSkySemi.
However, WingSkySemi ran into financial difficulties this year due to a lack of customers. To resolve the problems, Wing wanted to use Nexperia's financial resources — even though WingSkySemi is not part of the Wingtech group. Wing wanted to force Nexperia to place large orders with his wafer factory, even though Nexperia didn't need them at all. All Nexperia needed was $70 to $80 million worth of wafers by 2025, but orders worth $200 million had already been placed — to keep WinSkySemi afloat.
On Sep 4, Wing revoked the power of attorney granted to 3 financial officers at Nexperia including the CFO. Wing also began placing his front men in crucial positions within the organization. According to the court report, he granted power of attorney to 3 people "without any special financial experience."
When his fellow directors confronted him about this, they were summarily dismissed. "I am deeply concerned about the developments and interactions surrounding this matter and believe that they do not reflect good governance and are not in the best interests of Nexperia," wrote Ruben Lichtenberg, head of legal affairs and also a member of the board of directors. Four days later, Lichtenberg received an email informing him of his dismissal.
That's when Nexperia alerted the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Earlier this month, 
Ministry of Economic Affairs invoked the Goods Availability Act to remedy an emergency situation at Nexperia. Immediately afterwards, Nexperia’s European board members appealed to the Enterprise Chamber, which subsequently removed Wing from his administrative position and effectively "froze" the company, preventing any further crucial changes to Nexperia.
Wing asked the government for assistance. This quickly came in the form of an export restriction on Nexperia's factory in Dongguan, where chips are manufactured primarily for the Chinese electronics market.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans emphasized that he took the order "without any mandate or consultation with any country whatsoever." In other words, the intervention was not prompted by geopolitical pressure, but by concerns about Nexperia's continued existence.
nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/10
Zhang Xuezheng (张学政) aka Wing Zhang wanted to use Nexperia's money to support another company of his, wafer manufacturer WingSkySemi (鼎泰匠芯). He appointed front men to Nexperia while attempting to fire the company’s European executives, and this led to a heated conflict, according to a ruling by the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal published on Oct 14.
Nexperia is owned by Wingtech, founded and led by Wing, who is also the CEO of Nexperia. Wing also owns other tech companies in China, including WingSkySemi.
However, WingSkySemi ran into financial difficulties this year due to a lack of customers. To resolve the problems, Wing wanted to use Nexperia's financial resources — even though WingSkySemi is not part of the Wingtech group. Wing wanted to force Nexperia to place large orders with his wafer factory, even though Nexperia didn't need them at all. All Nexperia needed was $70 to $80 million worth of wafers by 2025, but orders worth $200 million had already been placed — to keep WinSkySemi afloat.
On Sep 4, Wing revoked the power of attorney granted to 3 financial officers at Nexperia including the CFO. Wing also began placing his front men in crucial positions within the organization. According to the court report, he granted power of attorney to 3 people "without any special financial experience."
When his fellow directors confronted him about this, they were summarily dismissed. "I am deeply concerned about the developments and interactions surrounding this matter and believe that they do not reflect good governance and are not in the best interests of Nexperia," wrote Ruben Lichtenberg, head of legal affairs and also a member of the board of directors. Four days later, Lichtenberg received an email informing him of his dismissal.
That's when Nexperia alerted the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Earlier this month, Ministry of Economic Affairs invoked the Goods Availability Act to remedy an emergency situation at Nexperia. Immediately afterwards, Nexperia’s European board members appealed to the Enterprise Chamber, which subsequently removed Wing from his administrative position and effectively "froze" the company, preventing any further crucial changes to Nexperia.
Wing asked the government for assistance. This quickly came in the form of an export restriction on Nexperia's factory in Dongguan, where chips are manufactured primarily for the Chinese electronics market.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans emphasized that he took the order "without any mandate or consultation with any country whatsoever." In other words, the intervention was not prompted by geopolitical pressure, but by concerns about Nexperia's continued existence.
nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/10
Quote
Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
In a letter to the Dutch Parliament dated Oct 14 (tweedekamer.nl/downloads/docu), Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans lays out his reasons for seizing control of Nexperia from Wingtech (闻泰科技) and CEO Zhang Xuezheng (张学政):
“Recently, I have received serious
Show more Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans lays out his reasons for seizing control of Nexperia from Wingtech (闻泰科技) and CEO Zhang Xuezheng (张学政):
“Recently, I have received serious
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