Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday that Intel must give the U.S. government an equity stake in the company in return for CHIPS Act funds.
“We should get an equity stake for our money,” Lutnick said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Tuesday. “So we’ll deliver the money, which was already committed under the Biden administration. We’ll get equity in return for it.”
Shares of the struggling chipmaker climbed 7% Tuesday, continuing to rally on recent reports that the Trump administration is weighing different ways to get involved with the company.
Bloomberg reported Monday that the White House was discussing a 10% stake in Intel, in a deal that could see the U.S. government become the chipmaker’s largest shareholder.
Intel and SoftBank announced on Monday that the Japanese conglomerate will make a $2 billion investment in the chipmaker. The investment, equal to about 2% of Intel, makes SoftBank the fifth-biggest shareholder, according to FactSet.
Lutnick said any potential arrangement wouldn’t provide the government with voting or governance rights in Intel.
“It’s not governance, we’re just converting what was a grant under Biden into equity for the Trump administration, for the American people,” Lutnick said. “Non-voting.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/19/lutnick-intel-stock-chips-trump.html