About

SanDisk Semiconductor (Shanghai) is a subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation, which is a world-leading hard disk drive manufacturer and data storage company. Described by a nominator as ‘elite professionals’ with work experience at renowned international law firms, the legal department work on a number of significant projects to ensure that legal is up-to-date with the business moves. ‘They are knowledgeable in law and practice, and often have a sharp view on knotty issues. Therefore, although the size of the legal team is rather modest, it can provide prompt and effective support to the external lawyers’, explains a nominator. The legal team is led by the legal director of Western Digital, Terry Yao, who works side-by-side with the external lawyers to tackle complicated issues in sophisticated cases. The legal team were fundamental to pivotal acquisitions, including the 2016 acquisition of SanDisk by Western Digital for US$19bn and the 2014 SanDisk acquisition of Fusion-io, a producer of flash memory for enterprise data centres for US$1.1bn.