‹ Super Micro Computer
Ch 4 · The Founder and the Asterisk
Chapter 4 · Management
The founder built it — and its accounting keeps raising questions.
A visionary engineer-CEO, shadowed by a history of governance and disclosure problems.
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✦ The bottom line
Founder Charles Liang built Supermicro over 30+ years and owns a large stake. But the company has a troubled disclosure history — its auditor resigned in 2024 and it nearly got delisted — and weaknesses in its financial controls remain.
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The founder — and the flags
1993-2007
Charles Liang founds Supermicro and takes it public.
2018-20
Delisted from Nasdaq over late filings; relists after catching up.
2024
A short-seller report; auditor EY resigns; the stock nearly gets delisted again.
2025-now
Refiles with a new auditor — but material weaknesses in controls persist.
A sign of operational fixes · gross margin
9.9
%
Gross margin recovered to 9.9% from a worrying 6.3% the prior quarter — evidence management is addressing a real operational problem, even if margins stay thin.
Source · 8-K · Item 2.02 — Highlights (gross margin, Q3'26 vs Q2'26) · Q3 FY26 · Filed May 5, 2026
From the 10-K · the control problem
Our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at the reasonable assurance level as of June 30, 2025 due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting … EY [Ernst & Young] resigned as the Company's independent public accounting firm, by letter dated October 24, 2024.
↳ When a company admits its financial controls aren't reliable and its auditor walked away, every other number deserves extra skepticism — even with a founder fully invested in the outcome.
Source · 10-K · Controls and Procedures / Risk Factors · FY2025 · Filed Aug 28, 2025
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Founder-led with skin in the game — but a real, recurring accounting and controls problem.
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Chapter 4 · MANAGEMENT
The Founder and the Asterisk
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Chapter 6 · RISK
Great Growth, Real Red Flags