Foxconn founder quits board for Taiwan presidential run

Foxconn Technology Group’s billionaire founder Terry Gou resigned from his place on the corporate’s board as he ramps up his marketing campaign to develop into president of Taiwan.

Gou stepped down as a director of the corporate he based in 1974 as a result of “personal reasons,” in response to an announcement from Foxconn Saturday. Foxconn thanked Gou, who stays its largest shareholder, for his contribution to the group and the worldwide electronics trade.

Having constructed Foxconn into one of many largest manufacturing firms on the planet and a key provider to Apple Inc., Gou had already handed day-to-day operating of the enterprise over to chairman and Chief Executive Officer Young Liu in 2019, when he first publicly flirted with the thought of getting into politics.

Gou’s resignation comes lower than per week after he ended months of hypothesis by formally asserting his intention to run in Taiwan’s presidential election, scheduled for January.

Opinion polls point out Gou will face an uphill battle to win the presidency. In an already-crowded race, he presently trails the opposite three candidates, with Vice President and ruling Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te within the lead, in response to most surveys.

Given Foxconn’s large manufacturing presence in China, with a whole bunch of hundreds of staff, Gou’s skill to resist stress from an more and more assertive Beijing has already develop into a problem within the marketing campaign. China views Taiwan as part of its territory, a declare the federal government in Taipei rejects.

Gou dismissed claims he can be inclined to Chinese stress, have been he to develop into president.

“I will not bow to China’s threats,” he stated on the briefing asserting his presidential bid final Monday, including that no overseas buyers would dare put money into China if the federal government there confiscated Foxconn’s belongings.

Improving the fractious relations between Taipei and Beijing has been the main target of Gou’s management bid thus far, with the billionaire promising to ship “50 years” of peace.