Background and career
Terry Gou (Chinese: 郭台銘; pinyin: Guō Táimíng; born 18 October 1950) is a Taiwanese billionaire businessman and politician. He is the founder and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics. As of 2024, Gou has a net worth of US$10.4 billion. Born in Banqiao, Taiwan, to waishengren parents, Gou founded Hon Hai Plastics Corporation, the predecessor of Hon Hai Precision Industry and Foxconn, in 1974. He expanded the company into computer engineering during the 1980s and established its first manufacturing facility in mainland China in 1988. Foxconn soon became a leading manufacturer of consumer electronics, particularly through its production of Apple's iPhone and other devices. His tenure was marked by rapid international expansion, including the 2016 acquisition of the Japanese electronics company Sharp Corporation. Gou entered electoral politics in 2019, seeking the Kuomintang (KMT) nomination for the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election but losing the party's primary to Han Kuo-yu. He again sought the KMT nomination for the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election, but the party instead nominated Hou Yu-ih. Gou then announced an independent presidential campaign in August 2023, advocating economic development, closer dialogue with mainland China, and the reduction of cross-strait tensions. He qualified to stand as an independent candidate after collecting sufficient signatures but withdrew from the election in November 2023, before the registration deadline.
Gou was born on 18 October 1950 in Banqiao District, Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taiwan. His father, Guo Lingrui (郭齡瑞), and mother, Chu Yongzhen (初永真), married in Qingdao, Shandong, China, in 1946 before relocating to Taiwan. Originally from Shanxi, his father had attended the Central Police Academy's Xi'an branch before beginning his police career in Qingdao. After arriving in Taiwan, his father initially worked in anti-smuggling operations at Keelung Harbor before eventually returning to police work in Banqiao. Gou was raised in a small rented residence beside Banqiao Cihui Temple, a temple dedicated to the goddess Mazu. The family relocated to police accommodation in Yonghe District following his father's reassignment to the area. During part of his childhood, Gou lived with his maternal grandmother, who spoke a Shandong dialect. The dialect became his first language, followed by Taiwanese Hokkien, which he learned while interacting with neighborhood children, and Mandarin Chinese, which he began learning after entering elementary school. Gou attended kindergarten in Banqiao at the age of five. He then attended Puqian Elementary School as a member of its inaugural class before transferring to Banqiao Elementary School following a change in his father's police assignment. He graduated from Banqiao Elementary School in 1962. He then continued his education at the junior high school division of Banqiao High School. In 1966, Gou enrolled at China Maritime College (now Taipei University of Marine Technology), a recently established maritime vocational institution. He graduated in 1972 with a degree in ship management. To finance his education, he began working while still in junior high school, including taking overnight shifts at a rubber factory in Banqiao. He also worked in grinding-wheel and pharmaceutical factories while supporting himself through part-time employment. After college, Gou completed compulsory military service as a reserve officer in the Republic of China Air Force, initially serving on Kinmen before being transferred to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base. He spent one year and ten months in military service. Following his discharge, Gou briefly worked in the shipping industry before establishing his own manufacturing business.
In 1974, Gou established Hon Hai Plastics Corporation (鴻海塑料企業有限公司), the predecessor of Hon Hai Precision Industry, in Taiwan. He founded the company with US$7,500 borrowed from his mother and an initial workforce of eleven older employees. The company's earliest products were inexpensive plastic components, including knobs for black-and-white televisions manufactured for an American television company based in Chicago. Gou later recalled that his mother had obtained his initial startup funds through a rotating savings and credit association, known in Taiwan as a biaohui (標會). In 1980, the company secured a contract to manufacture joystick connectors for the American video game company Atari, an important early customer. Hon Hai developed connectors for personal computers in 1981, marking its expansion beyond components for household appliances. The following year, the company changed its name to Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海精密工業股份有限公司). During the early 1980s, Gou undertook an eleven-month trip across the United States to solicit business from American technology companies, including IBM. In 1985, Hon Hai established an American subsidiary as part of its expansion into the United States market. On 6 June 1988, Gou's company established its first manufacturing facility in mainland China in the Longhua area of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Hon Hai then expanded its mainland manufacturing operations, including the development of a large industrial complex in Longhua that incorporated production facilities, worker dormitories, restaurants, markets, and recreational amenities. Hon Hai became a publicly traded company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on 18 June 1991. In 1996, the company began developing its Longhua Science and Technology Park and expanded its manufacturing operations into personal computers and barebone computer systems. By 2001, Hon Hai had become Taiwan's largest privately owned manufacturing enterprise by revenue.
Under Gou, Foxconn adopted a vertically integrated manufacturing strategy that emphasized producing components internally or purchasing them in large quantities while offering manufacturing and assembly services to other technology companies. Rather than developing its own competing consumer electronics brands, he concentrated on original equipment manufacturer (OEM) services and long-term relationships with customers. Foxconn also absorbed some initial tooling expenses for customers and sought to integrate component procurement, production, and logistics within its manufacturing operations. Foxconn's relationship with Apple Inc. initially involved supplying inexpensive electronic components, including connectors used in computers during the 1990s. In 1999, Foxconn secured an order to manufacture the external enclosures for Apple's Power Macintosh G4 computers. In 2000, the company won a contract to manufacture redesigned iMac computers. Foxconn subsequently became a major producer of Apple's portable electronic devices, including the iPod and iPhone. Gou worked directly with Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs during the development of the original iPhone. Foxconn's revenue increased from approximately US$1.8 billion in 1999 to US$98 billion in 2010, with its expanding business relationship with Apple accounting for much of that growth. In addition to Apple, the company manufactured electronic products for major international technology brands, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, and Amazon. Foxconn eventually became China's largest private-sector employer, with a workforce numbering approximately 1.2 million people at its peak.
During Gou's tenure as chairman, Foxconn attracted international scrutiny over working conditions at its manufacturing facilities in mainland China. In 2010, a series of worker suicides at the company's industrial complex in Shenzhen prompted concerns about employee welfare and the psychological pressures associated with factory work. Labor campaigners criticized long working hours, low basic wages, and restrictions on social interaction during production shifts, although some employees said that Foxconn's wages and conditions compared favorably with those of other manufacturers. In May 2010, Gou visited Foxconn's Longhua facility and told reporters that he feared receiving news of further worker deaths. He also apologized for a company document that had asked employees to agree that their families would not receive additional compensation in the event of a suicide, and announced that the document would be withdrawn. Foxconn subsequently installed anti-suicide netting around factory and dormitory buildings, introduced counseling measures, and pledged salary increases for workers at the facility. In March 2012, an investigation conducted by the Fair Labor Association at three Foxconn factories found violations involving excessive overtime, inadequate compensation, and workplace health and safety risks. Following the investigation, Foxconn and Apple agreed to reduce working hours, improve safety procedures, and address problems with employee compensation and accommodation.
In May 2015, Gou announced plans for Foxconn to develop between ten and twelve manufacturing and data-processing facilities in India by 2020, estimating that the proposed expansion could require several billion dollars in investment. In August of that year, Gou and the government of Maharashtra announced an agreement under which Foxconn proposed investing US$5 billion over five years in an electronics manufacturing facility in the Indian state. Gou also led Foxconn's efforts to acquire the Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp Corporation, which had experienced substantial financial difficulties. In March 2016, Foxconn agreed to purchase approximately two-thirds of Sharp for US$3.5 billion after reducing an earlier offer following the disclosure of additional liabilities at the Japanese company. The acquisition provided Foxconn with access to Sharp's advanced display technology and strengthened its position as a supplier to major electronics manufacturers, including Apple.
