Trump's Intel deal is making investors nervous

The US government's new stake in Intel is making some investors nervous that President Donald Trump's deal heralds an era of government meddling in private industry, particularly as the arrangement followed Trump's call for the resignation of the computer chip maker's CEO.

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The deal, announced on Friday, converts $11.1 billion in Chips Act grants and other government funding into a 9.9% equity stake in Intel. The company’s press release announcing the deal included statements from the CEOs of Microsoft, Dell and other companies praising the move, reported Reuters.

Investors said this level of tractability was not usually associated with relations between businesses and Washington. Trump had said on social media that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan wanted to keep his job and “ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States.”

“It sets a bad precedent if the president can just take 10% of a company by threatening the CEO,” said James McRitchie, a private investor and shareholder activist in California who owns Intel shares. The statement, he said, effectively sends the message that “we love Trump, we don't want 10% of our company taken away.”