“72-year-old Terry Gou, Foxconn’s founder and former chair, announced on Monday that he would run as an independent candidate in Taiwan’s presidential elections next January after his second attempt to lead the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) once again proved futile. Billionaire Gou joins a crowded race to replace outgoing president Tsai Ing-wen, who is ineligible to run again due to term limits.
Gou said he was running to prevent Taiwan from becoming “the next Ukraine,” promised to bring “50 years of peace to the Taiwan Strait,” and pledged to help the island overtake Singapore in terms of GDP per capita.
As an independent candidate, the Foxconn founder now needs to get 2.9 lakh signatures from voters by Nov. 2 to make his bid official, as per Fortune. Terry has a $6.96 billion net worth as per the Bloomberg billionaire index.”
Gou had harsh words for the Democratic Progressive Party, which has governed Taiwan since Tsai won the presidency in 2016. Her more anti-Beijing stance contrasts with the KMT, which supports closer ties with mainland China.
“Over the past seven years, I’ve witnessed Taiwan go from being prosperous to being on the brink of falling off a cliff,” Gou said Monday, citing his dissatisfaction with the economy, defense, and foreign policy.
“If we don’t pull back now, it will be too late to save Taiwan from falling. We have to take down the Democratic Progressive Party,” he continued.
Terry Gou founded Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known internationally as Foxconn, in 1974.
The supplier opened its first plant in mainland China in 1988. It employs hundreds of thousands of workers in its mainland Chinese plants, including its gargantuan complex in Zhengzhou, where it makes iPhones for Apple. Gou also remains the largest shareholder of the Apple iPhone manufacturer, which depends on China for roughly 70% of its revenue.
Gou has sought the presidency twice before. He had stepped down as Foxconn’s chair in 2019, ahead of the previous election. At the time, however, he came in second during the KMT’s presidential primary.
The billionaire had declined to run as an independent candidate at the time, and the party eventually lost to the DPP and Tsai. Now it remains to be seen whether he succeeds in his third run or not
