While Foxconn chairman Terry Gou enters Taiwan’s rancorous political arena free of any political baggage, he could yet find himself weighed down by connections to Beijing forged during his pragmatic commercial rise.
Gou, 68, announced on Wednesday that he would contest Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election, seeking to represent the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party – a vote that comes after a period of increasing tension between Beijing and the self-ruled island.
After building the world’s largest contract manufacturer from scratch over the past 40 years, Gou’s connections reach as high as Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials. His $40 billion empire has an extensive Chinese footprint of factories producing components for Apple.
The network of Gou, Taiwan’s richest person, also includes extensive U.S. connections, including a friendship with President Donald Trump.