Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, announced on the morning of August 28th that he would independently run for the presidency of Taiwan, drawing attention across the two shores and Hong Kong. According to Forbes magazine, 72-year-old Gou has assets exceeding $7.4 billion (approximately HKD 580 billion), making him the sixth wealthiest person in Taiwan. If Gou officially registers to run, he will be the richest presidential candidate in Taiwan’s history.
Gou, whose ancestral home is in Jincheng, Shanxi, established Foxconn in Taiwan in 1974 with an initial investment of TWD 100,000. Initially, Foxconn was involved in the production of plastic products. By 1982, as Foxconn Precision was set up, the company ventured into the computer industry. Their collaboration with Apple brought significant returns, with Foxconn starting the production of Mac frameworks for Apple in 1999. By 2001, benefiting from the success of Apple’s iPod, Foxconn surpassed TSMC in revenue, becoming Taiwan’s largest private enterprise.
In 2016, Forbes named Gou one of the “30 People Who Changed the World.” In 2017, the Harvard Business Review ranked him 29th in its list of top global CEOs.
According to Forbes, Gou topped the list of Taiwan’s richest individuals in 2005, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. Although he fell to the sixth position last year, his assets, exceeding $7.4 billion, remain unmatched by typical presidential candidates.
The latest statistics from the “Bloomberg Billionaires Index” show that Gou is currently worth close to $7 billion, ranking 333rd among the world’s top 500 billionaires and 4th in Taiwan. He follows behind figures like Barry Lam, founder of Quanta Computer, “Shoe King” Zhang Congyuan, and Lin Shu-hong of Chang Chun Petrochemicals.
Previous Attempts in KMT Presidential Primaries
Gou previously participated in the Kuomintang (KMT) presidential primaries but was not nominated. The KMT eventually chose the mayor of New Taipei City, Hou You-yi, as their candidate. Gou now declares his independent run.
It’s worth noting that Gou also took part in the KMT presidential primaries in 2019. However, he lost to then-mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu, and subsequently left the KMT.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan faced a vaccine shortage. Gou led a charitable organization to donate over 15 million doses of the BioNTech vaccine. However, Gou claimed in May of this year that President Tsai Ing-wen sent representatives to request him not to purchase vaccines, leading to a dispute.