Ping Chao, Founder and Chairman
For over 25 years, Ping Chao has been a serial entrepreneur in high technology in Silicon Valley, California. He has been a technology and business leader in the Electronics Design Automation (EDA) industry since its infancy. In 1982, Ping co-founded ECAD which five years later, filed for IPO. Soon thereafter, in 1988, ECAD merged with SDA Systems to become the EDA powerhouse, Cadence. Then in 1990 He founded his second startup company PiE Design Systems with another successful IPO. Once again in 1996, he founded his third startup - Silicon Perspective Corp serving as its President and CEO. In 2001 Silicon Perspective Corp was acquired by Cadence as one of the most successful merger & acquisition (M&A) in EDA history. From 2001-2005, Ping served as Cadence’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. Today, Cadence is the leading EDA company in the world with $ 1.615 billion in revenues (2007) over 5000 employees worldwide and a market cap of $5.36 billion. In 2005, Ping retired from Cadence to become a private venture investor and devote more time to his philanthropic work. Ping completed his BSEE at National Chiao-Ting University, Taiwan and his MSEE/CS at University of California at Berkeley.
An oral history of Ping's career can be found in the archive of Computer History Museum.
An oral history of Ping's career can be found in the archive of Computer History Museum.
Amy Chao, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman
Amy and Ping were married in 1976. Since then, Amy has been devoted to her family and two children and spends her time actively volunteering in church, schools, hospitals, senior centers, and art communities. She was inspired by her grandmother's heart to care for the orphans in their village to do charity. She is a strong believer that serving the underprivileged can and should be a source of joy for everyone, not just the few. She also believes that non-profit work and volunteering can be rewarding and fun at the same time. Amy received her BA from Ming Chuan Girl’s College in Taiwan.