Acer Inc’s (宏碁) Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC) chief architect Stan Shih (施振榮) plans to pass on his post to his son Maverick Shih (施宣輝) next year, the Chinese-language Next Magazine reported yesterday.
“Acer chairman George Huang (黃少華) is to retire and chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) is double as chairman next year, and I will handover my post to Maverick in one year,” the magazine quoted Stan Shih as saying.
Stan Shih, founder and former chairman of Acer, retired from the company for the first time in 2004 and briefly returned as chairman in 2013, after Acer posted losses in 2011 and 2012.
Shih handed over the chairmanship to Huang in June 2014 and has been the chief architect of the company’s cloud-computing business since then.
Maverick Shih has been helping develop the BYOC business since 2011 and is to solely lead the BYOC and smart devices business after division co-head S.T. Liew’s (劉思泰) resignation takes effect in October, the company said.
Stan Shih, 71, plans to let Maverick Shih take full control of the BYOC and smart products businesses in the future, the magazine said.
However, Stan Shih has not decided if his son is to have a seat on Acer’s board next year, as he has not yet consulted his wife, Carolyn Yeh (葉紫華), on the subject, the magazine said.
Yeh is one of the top 10 largest shareholders in Acer. She and her husband have a combined stake of 3.24 percent in Acer and each has a seat on the board.
If their son becomes a board director, the family would control three of the board’s nine seats, a situation that would make Acer look like a family-run company, the magazine said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The people said if Shih and Yeh decide not to withdraw from the board next year, Maverick Shih might join it in 2020, the magazine said.
If BYOC and the smart devices businesses expand further over the next three years, Maverick Shih might not only be considered for a board seat in 2020, but also for chief executive officer, the magazine said.
Acer yesterday said that a company succession plan requires discussions and approval from the board.
“We cannot predict or disclose any information to the public regarding the matter at the moment,” it said.
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