Terry Gou (Chinese:郭台銘;pinyin:Guō Táimíng;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Koeh Tâi-bêng; born 18 October 1950) is a Taiwanesebillionaire businessman and politician. Gou is the founder and former chairman and chief executive officer ofFoxconn, the world'slargest contract manufacturer of electronics.[1] Founded in 1974, Foxconn grew to become an international business empire, becoming the largest private employer and exporter inTaiwan with a workforce of 1.2 million.[2] As of 2024, Gou had a net worth ofUS$10.4 billion.[3]
Beginning in 2016, speculation surrounding Gou's political ambitions arose ahead of the2020 presidential election.[4][5][6][7] In 2019, Gou resigned from Foxconn and joined theKuomintang (KMT) to run forpresident, declaring he was instructed by the sea goddessMazu in a dream to contest the election.[8] Gou ultimately lost the election, coming in second in the Kuomintang primary.[9] After leaving the party following the 2019 primary, Gou rejoined in 2023 and announced his intention to run for president in the2024 presidential election,[10] but after running as an independent candidate, he ended his campaign in late November 2023.[11]
As the second child of his family, Gou received education from elementary school to post college. After graduation, he continued to work in a rubber factory, working at a grinding wheel, and medicine plant until the age of 24. Gou has an older sister and two younger brothers, Gou Tai-chiang and Tony Gou, who have both become successful businesspeople as well.
Terry Gou foundedFoxconn, established as Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海科技集團) in Taiwan in 1974[23] with $7,500 ($44,000 in 2021 US dollars) in startup money and a workforce of ten elderly employees. The company started off making plastic parts fortelevision sets in a rented shed inTucheng, a suburb of Taipei.[24] A turning point came in 1980 when he received an order fromAtari to make the console joystick.[24]
Gou expanded his business in the 1980s by embarking on an 11-month trip across the US in search of customers. An aggressive salesman, Gou arrived uninvited at many companies' headquarters; often, he won orders despite security being called on him.[24]
In 1988, Gou opened his first factory inShenzhen where his largest factory remains today. Gou scaled up production byintegrating vertically the assembly process and facilities for workers. The manufacturing site became a campus that included housing, dining, medical care and burial for the workers, and even chicken farming to supply the cafeteria.[24]
In 1996, Hon Hai started building chassis forCompaq desktops. This was a breakthrough moment that led to building the bare bones chassis for other high-profile customers, includingHP,IBM, andApple. Within just a few years, Foxconn grew into a consumer electronics giant.[24]
In 2019, Gou argued that Apple should move its manufacturing out of mainland China to Taiwan. The comments came after he confirmed he will step down from his role as Foxconn chairman.[25][26]
Gou is also the main owner ofHMD Global, which is a company founded in 2016 to sellNokia branded phones. HMD buys the R&D, manufacturing and distribution from FIH Ltd, which is part of Hon Hai group.
In April 2021, Gou became the biggest shareholder in the biotech company Eirgenix.[27] In December 2022,The Wall Street Journal reported that a letter from Gou helped convince the Chinese government to easeZero-COVID restrictions amid theCOVID-19 pandemic.[14]
From 2016, it was widely reported that Gou was considering a 2020 Taiwanese presidential bid,[4][5] and speculation continued into 2017.[6][7] He rejoined the Kuomintang in April 2019.[39] On 17 April 2019, Gou announced his intention to run in the Kuomintang primary for the2020 presidential election.[40][41]
In April 2023, Gou announced he would run for President in theTaiwanese 2024 general election.[10] Polling conducted in January 2023 found him in second place in a hypothetical KMT primary withHou Yu-ih, theMayor 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 writerLai Pei-hsia [zh], 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] However, on 24 November 2023 he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race, and his name would not appear on the ballot.[51]
Gou's status as a billionaire businessman and relativepolitical outsider, Gou was compared to Trump in international media during his 2019 presidential candidacy.[16][17][18]
In 2007, Gou citedGenghis Khan as a personal hero.[52][53] Gou reportedly wears a beaded bracelet procured at a temple dedicated to the Genghis Khan, which he wears on his right wrist.[54][52]
In 2012, a controversy arose after Gou jokingly compared Foxconn's workforce to animals during a company event at the Taipei zoo.[55][56] TheXinhua News Agency reported that while speaking on the challenges of presiding over a workforce with over one million employees, Gou stated that as "human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache."[57]
Foxconn defended Gou's comments, stating that "Mr. Gou did say that, since all humans are members of the animal kingdom, it might be possible to learn from Mr. Chin’s experience as his team looks for lessons that can be applied to business." Moreover, Foxconn clarified that Gou's comments were not discriminatory, explaining that "Mr. Gou’s comments were directed at all humans and not at any specific group".[58]
In June 2012, Gou stated that he had "great esteem for Japanese (businessmen), especially those who are able to disagree with you in person and not stab you in the back, unlike theGaoli bangzi".Gaoli bangzi is aracial slur for Korean people.[59]
Gou and his first wife, Serena Lin (林淑如;Lín Shúrú; 1950–2005), have a son who works in the film and real estate industries and a daughter who worked in the financial sector.[60] Gou founded an educational charity with Lin in 2000 and intended to eventually give away one third of his wealth to charity.[2] After Gou's wife died, Gou's daughter assumed leadership in the charity.[60]
In the 1990s, Gou had anextramarital affair with Chen Chung-mei, abar girl according to Gou, who had aprivate investigator videotape her and Gou having sex in order toblackmail Gou for money. While Gou first agreed to pay the money, when they next met he had police arrest Chen and the private investigator, Hsu Ching-wei, and sued them for extortion, stating he knew the affair would become "exposed one way or another".[61]
In 2005, Serena Lin died ofbreast cancer at the age of 55.[24][63] Gou's younger brother, Tony Gou, died in 2007 ofleukemia.[64][65] Also that year, Hsu Ching-wei accused Gou of having an affair during the 1990s.[66] Gou married his second wife, choreographerDelia Tseng [zh] (born 1974) on 26 July 2008.[67] Tseng and Gou have three children.[68] Together, they have decided to give 90% of Gou's wealth away.[60]
In 2016, Gou'snet worth was US$5.6 billion.[69] By August 2017,Forbes listed his net worth at US$10.6 billion.[70] As of 2022, Gou had a net worth ofUS$6.8 billion, making him the sixth wealthiest person in Taiwan.[3]
^Chung, Lawrence (18 April 2019)."Terry Gou: Taiwan's wealthiest man - and future presidential candidate".South China Morning Post. Retrieved5 April 2023."Today, Gou is known in Beijing as a "mainland-friendly business leader" and even Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called him his "old friend".
^Yu, Hsiang; Liu, Kuan-ting; Wang, Cheng-chung; Fan, Cheng-hsiang; Kao, Evelyn (17 April 2019)."KMT welcomes Terry Gou's presidential bid". Central News Agency.Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved17 April 2019.
^Chung, Yu-chen (28 August 2023)."ELECTION 2024/Terry Gou jumps into 2024 presidential race as independent candidate". Central News Agency. Retrieved29 August 2023.Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of the Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., announced Monday that he will run for president in 2024 on an independent ticket.
^Wu, Jeffrey; Lo, James (2 September 2023)."Terry Gou resigns from Hon Hai board of directors". Central News Agency. Retrieved3 September 2023.Business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) has resigned from his position as a member of the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. board of directors, the company announced Saturday. In a press statement released late Saturday, Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn globally, announced that Gou resigned from his post for "personal reasons."
^abcOtsuki, Tomohiro (9 April 2016)."The real face of Terry Gou".Nikkei Asian Review.Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved27 January 2017.
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