The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is to ask manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to reveal its succession plan after chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) confirmed his intention to run for president next year.
On the sidelines of a legislative committee meeting yesterday, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that the commission would instruct the Taiwan Stock Exchange to the request that Gou makes known his plans to shift to politics from business.
Gou is the first-generation leader of Hon Hai, and as he now has a different career plan, investors would want to know whether the company has a succession plan, Koo said.
Gou, one of the nation’s richest men, last week announced that he would join the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential primary, adding that the sea goddess Matsu supported to his decision.
He has not shed any light on his campaign platform, except that he would pursue cross-strait peace.
A source close to Hon Hai, who asked not be named, told the Central News Agency last week after Gou’s announcement that he would not retire, but that he is formulating a succession plan for the company.
Following Gou’s announcement on Wednesday, Hon Hai shares closed up 2.11 percent at the end of that day’s trading session, but they fell 4.36 percent in the following three trading sessions before staging a 0.57 percent technical rebound on Tuesday.
Following the fluctuations in Hon Hai’s share price, Koo urged investors not to ignore the company’s fundamentals.
International business media have raised concern about the impact of Gou’s political ambitions on Hon Hai’s operations.
The Nikkei Asian Review cited Joseph Fan (范博宏), a professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong, as saying that Gou’s presidential bid could pose a risk to the company.
“Gou is a strongman. The biggest concern will be whether his gigantic tech empire can be set in driverless mode and still run smoothly during his absence,” Fan said.
However, Hon Hai has said that all its subsidiaries operate independently and individual business units are run by professional managers, and that Gou’s shift into politics would not affect the operations of those units.
Hon Hai shares yesterday closed down 1.59 percent at NT$86.9 in Taipei trading, while the TAIEX closed 0.02 percent higher.
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