Terry Gou

Terry Gou (born 18 October 1950) is a Taiwanese billionaire businessman and politician. Gou is the founder and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics.[1] Founded in 1974, Foxconn grew to become an international business empire, becoming the largest private employer and exporter in Taiwan with a workforce of 1.2 million.[2] As of 2024, Gou has a net worth of US$10.4 billion.[3]

Beginning in 2016, speculation surrounding Gou's political ambitions arose ahead of the 2020 presidential election. In 2019, Gou resigned from Foxconn and joined the Kuomintang (KMT) to run for president, declaring he was instructed by the sea goddess Mazu in a dream to contest the election. Gou ultimately lost the election, coming in second in the Kuomintang primary. After leaving the party following the 2019 primary, Gou rejoined in 2023 and announced his intention to run for president in the 2024 presidential election, but after running as an independent candidate, he ended his campaign in late November 2023.[4]

Political career

Gou first joined the Kuomintang in 1970, but allowed his membership to lapse after 2000.[21] In the 2012 Taiwan presidential election, Gou endorsed Ma Ying-jeou,[22][23] stating that Ma was an "experienced, outstanding helmsman."[24] After Donald Trump won the 2016 United States presidential election, Gou was the subject of a spoof open letter in Bloomberg, in which author Tim Culpan was severely critical of Trump.[25] The article was mistakenly reported as having been written by Gou himself.[26]

Political views

An opponent of the Taiwan independence movement, Gou claims the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) "exalts Taiwan independence and hates and opposes China".[8] His position is that Taiwan independence is not an issue.[27] Instead, he supports the 1992 Consensus under the one-China framework,[28][29] and has criticized the DPP for political wordplay in their interpretation of the consensus.[30]

In 2019, Gou expressed misgivings about the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan, arguing that the Legislative Yuan did not respect the results of the 2018 referendum where a majority voted against legalization.[31]

2020 presidential election

From 2016, it was widely reported that Gou was considering a 2020 Taiwanese presidential bid,[32][33] and speculation continued into 2017.[34][35] He rejoined the Kuomintang in April 2019.[36] On 17 April 2019, Gou announced his intention to run in the Kuomintang primary for the 2020 presidential election.[37][38]

Gou declared that he had been instructed by the sea goddess

2024 presidential election

In April 2023, Gou announced he would run for President in the Taiwanese 2024 general election.[45] Polling conducted in January 2023 found him in second place in a hypothetical KMT primary with Hou Yu-ih, the Mayor of New Taipei, receiving 28.6% of the vote versus Hou's 36.7%.[46] Gou formally declared his independent presidential bid on August 28.[47] On September 2, Foxconn announced that Gou had resigned his position on the board of directors for personal reasons.[48]

On 14 September 2023, Gou announced as his running mate the actress and writer Lai Pei-hsia, also known as Tammy Lai.[49]

Gou officially qualified for the presidential election on 14 November 2023, when the signatures he had collected in order to run as an independent candidate were validated by Taiwan's Central Election Commission.[50]

native name	郭台銘
native name lang	zh-Hant
birth date	October 18, 1950
birth place	Banqiao, Taiwan
party	Kuomintang (1970–2000; 2019) Independent (2000–2019; 2019–)
education	Taipei University of Marine Technology (BS)
known for	Founder of Foxconn
years active	1974–present
spouse	Serena Lin (m. 1974-2005) Delia Tseng (m. 2008)
children	5
relatives	Sophie Chang (cousin)
signature	Terry Gou signature.png

Early life

Foxconn

Other business ventures

Political career

Political views

2020 presidential election

2024 presidential election

Public image

"Animal" management comment controversy

Anti-Korean comment

Personal life

Wealth

External links

References