# Grant A. Pierce

> Grant A. Pierce co-founded semiconductor IP company Sonics in 1996 and became its president and CEO in 1997. A former CPA with finance and management experience at MIPS, ParcPlace and MicroUnity, he led a business in on-chip communications and power management and became ESD Alliance chairman in 2017. Facebook acquired Sonics in 2019, when its independent business wound down.

- **Role:** Entrepreneur and technology executive
- **Organizations:** Sonics, Inc., Electronic System Design Alliance, MicroUnity Systems Engineering, ParcPlace Systems, MIPS Computer Systems, Convergent Technologies, ITT Qume, Arthur Andersen
- **Education:** BS in Business Administration-Accounting, California State University, Hayward
- **Known for:** Co-founded Sonics and served as president and CEO from 1997 during its independent operation., Elected chairman of the Electronic System Design Alliance in February 2017., Led Sonics as it expanded from on-chip networks into hardware-based energy management.

## Career timeline

- **1984-1988** — Corporate controller at MIPS Computer Systems.
- **1988-1990** — Chief financial officer at ParcPlace Systems.
- **1990-1996** — CFO, vice president and general manager roles at MicroUnity Systems Engineering.
- **1996-09** — Co-founded Sonics with Drew E. Wingard.
- **1997-02** — Became Sonics board chairman.
- **1997-03** — Became Sonics president and CEO.
- **2001-05** — Sonics launched SOCworks online chip architecture evaluation environment.
- **2007-08** — Sonics filed an S-1 for a proposed IPO; the offering did not take place.
- **2014** — Elected to the board of the organization later named the ESD Alliance.
- **2016-05** — Sonics announced its ICE-G1 Energy Processing Unit.
- **2017-02** — Elected ESD Alliance chairman.
- **2019-03** — Facebook confirmed acquiring Sonics; Sonics wound down its independent business.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Sonics and served as president and CEO from 1997 during its independent operation.
- Elected chairman of the Electronic System Design Alliance in February 2017.
- Led Sonics as it expanded from on-chip networks into hardware-based energy management.

## Latest updates

- **2019-03** — Facebook confirmed its acquisition of Sonics, whose independent business was winding down.
- **2019-02** — SEMI listed Pierce among the ESD Alliance Governing Council members.
- **2018-07** — Sonics announced a SiFive partnership supporting RISC-V system-on-chip integration.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-pierce-a62212

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/grant-pierce
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Last updated: 2026-10-24