Won't continue as chairman of new board, says Foxconn founder Terry Gou

Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou said he won’t continue to lead the company’s board once a new lineup is elected at an annual shareholders’ meeting next month.

“I am sure, 100%,” Gou said Saturday, referring to his determination to leave the role at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., as the company is also known. “I am no longer managing Hon Hai’s affairs.”

Foxconn is China’s largest private employer and a key iPhone assembler. Gou, a billionaire, declared his political ambitions in April to run in Taiwan’s presidential elections, and is regarded as friendly to Beijing.

Among those nominated to be board members are Foxconn Industrial Internet vice chairman Jay Lee, and Tai Jeng-wu, chairman and chief executive officer of Sharp Corp., the Japanese electronics maker acquired by Foxconn in August 2016.

Other nominees are Lu Sung-ching, chairman and CEO of Foxconn’s Hong Kong-listed unit FIT Hon Teng, Foxconn semiconductor chief Young Liu and Asia Pacific Telecom Chairman Lu Fang-ming.

Gou said neither FIT’s Lu nor Sharp’s Tai will become the next Hon Hai chairman.