TCC Group (台泥集團) chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允) died early yesterday of severe head injuries sustained in a fall down a flight of stairs at a Taipei hotel on Saturday night.
Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), the flagship subsidiary of TCC Group, announced that Koo, 63, had died at 6:20am.
The accident occurred at the Regent Taipei (晶華酒店), where Koo had been attending a wedding banquet. The hotel yesterday lowered the corporate flags flying in front to half-mast in honor of Koo.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
Sources said the Taipei Police Department is investigating Koo’s death, and yesterday called in two eyewitnesses and asked for the hotel for its ecurity camera footage.
The nation’s largest cement maker yesterday appointed board director Nelson Chang (張安平) to replace Koo as chairman.
The board of Taiwan Cement called a special meeting to put Chang, Koo’s brother-in law, who is also chief executive officer of LDC Hotels & Resorts Group (雲朗觀光集團), in charge of the 71-year-old company.
Photo: Wang I-hung, Taipei Times
Chang was also appointed chairman of two Taiwan Cement affiliates — China Synthetic Rubber Corp (CSRC, 中國合成橡膠) and Taiwan Prosperity Chemical Corp (TPCC, 信昌化學工業).
He previously served as vice chairman of Taiwan Cement and Chia Hsin Cement Corp (嘉新水泥).
“Taiwan Cement’s operation target for this year will not change and we will continue working on Koo’s “original plans” [for the whole group], Chang told reporters after the board meeting.
He also said that he was upbeat about the company’s sales outlook for this year.
Leslie Koo came from one of the largest and most prominent families in Taiwan, the Koos of Lukang. He was the second son of Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), a former chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, who died in 2005 at the age of 88.
Leslie Koo had led Taiwan Cement since 2003, transforming the company into the sixth-largest cement maker in China by capacity and the 12th-largest globally.
Taiwan Cement saw its net profit in the first three quarters of last year soar 13.63 percent to NT$4.55 billion (US$144.8 million).
Shares of Taiwan Cement yesterday gained 2.29 percent to close at NT$35.75 in Taipei trading after Chang’s announcement, while the benchmark increased 0.99 percent to 9,424.05 points.
Additional reporting by CNA
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
FLOOD RECOVERY: “Post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved on Thursday, the premier said, adding the flood control in affected areas would be prioritized About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data. Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm. The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters. CWA forecaster
RSS