The more than three-month-long family tussle within the Shinkong Group (
Thomas Wu (吳東亮) finally agreed to his mother Wu Kuei-lan's (吳桂蘭) arrangements and relinquish the fiber polyester company's chairmanship to his younger brother Eric Wu (吳東昇).
In return, Thomas Wu received his family's support in an upcoming leadership reshuffle at Taishin Financial Holding Co (
"[The family has agreed] to end their disagreements in a conciliatory way ... to safeguard investors' rights," said Alex Tsai (
Tsai said Thomas and Eric Wu met and inked the written agreement in the presence of lawyers last Friday.
"The Wus express hope that investors will continue to support their respective businesses -- Shinkong Synthetic Fibers and Taishin Financial," the statement read.
Following the signing of the agreement, lawyer Lindy Chern (陳玲玉), who represents Thomas Wu, yesterday added that the brothers will immediately withdraw previous lawsuits and hand in the proxy votes each has received so far, which were solicited to secure the chairmanship of the financial-service company and the fiber maker.
Taishin Financial is slated to reshuffle its board on Dec. 3 while Shinkong Synthetic Fibers is scheduled to elect Eric Wu as its chairman in its board meeting on Dec. 20, Chern said.
Eric Wu, moreover, will resign from his position as vice chairman at Taishin Financial while "promising to respect the incumbent management team at Shinkong Synthetic Fibers after he later takes over the chairmanship from his elder brother," the lawyers said.
When asked if the Wus' family-run businesses have officially split up, Chern said that a family meeting, to be called by the mother in the near future, will gather the four siblings and dissolve the family squabble face-to-face.
Over the family meeting, the mother will reaffirm the four siblings' family-business territories. According to a statement issued by Wu Kuei-lan, her eldest son, Eugene Wu (
Second son Wu Tung-hsien's (吳東賢) territory will include Shinkong Spinning Co (新光紡織), Shinkong Insurance Co (新光產險) and Shinkong Investment Trust Co (新光投信). Thomas Wu -- the third son -- will head Taishin Financial and its subsidiaries, including Taiwan Securities Co (台証證券) and Taishin Bills Finance Corp (台新票券), while the youngest, Eric Wu, also a Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, will take charge of the fiber maker.
The family squabble broke out in early August when Thomas Wu proclaimed himself to be the fiber-maker's rightful chairman despite being challenged by his younger brother, who was backed by their mother.
The younger Wu then petitioned the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which, in October, ruled him to be the lawful chairman with Thomas Wu vowing to dispute the ministry's ruling.
After each side filed lawsuits, Thomas Wu later received a court order, which denied Eric Wu's application for a preliminary injunction to keep his elder brother from taking the chairmanship.
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
AI: Softbank’s stake increases in Nvidia and TSMC reflect Masayoshi Son’s effort to gain a foothold in key nodes of the AI value chain, from chip design to data infrastructure Softbank Group Corp is building up stakes in Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the latest reflection of founder Masayoshi Son’s focus on the tools and hardware underpinning artificial intelligence (AI). The Japanese technology investor raised its stake in Nvidia to about US$3 billion by the end of March, up from US$1 billion in the prior quarter, regulatory filings showed. It bought about US$330 million worth of TSMC shares and US$170 million in Oracle Corp, they showed. Softbank’s signature Vision Fund has also monetized almost US$2 billion of public and private assets in the first half of this year,
RSS