Supermicro
More info
- Creator
- Charles Liang
- Released
- 1993
- Type
- Server and motherboard maker
Sold Lego to data centres for thirty years, then abruptly became an AI stock.
Charles Liang founded Super Micro Computer in San Jose in 1993. It made motherboards and chassis as building blocks customers could assemble themselves, and became a go-to supplier for anyone who wanted cheap, dense servers without the Dell or HP markup. Anyone who has administered a Supermicro box knows its IPMI interface, and its security holes.
In 2018 Bloomberg Businessweek's "The Big Hack" claimed Chinese spy chips had been planted on Supermicro motherboards. Apple, Amazon and Supermicro denied it, and the story has never been substantiated. When the AI boom arrived, the company was quick to ship liquid-cooled racks packed with Nvidia GPUs, and the share price went vertical. 2024 brought a short-seller report and the resignation of its auditor, Ernst & Young.