Shin Kong Financial Holding Co Ltd (新光金控) yesterday announced that chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) had stepped down in an unexpected board reshuffle that surprised the market.
Wu, who founded Shin Kong Financial and has run the firm for about 18 years, stepped down as chairman with immediate effect after the company’s board yesterday approved the move.
“I am not retiring due to any disease, and I hope the public will not speculate too much,” Wu told reporters in Taipei after the board meeting.
“I just do not want to be like my father, who died of sudden cardiac arrest in the office. He faced heavy psychological and physical pressure 34 years ago, when the economy entered a recession,” Wu said.
“There is no rule that we must die on the battlefield,” he added.
Wu has led many of Shin Kong Group’s (新光集團) subsidiaries, such as Taiwan Shin Kong Security Co (新光保全) and Great Taipei Gas Corp (大台北瓦斯) after his father, Wu Ho-su (吳火獅), the founder of the family business, passed away in 1986.
The 75-year-old Wu considered relinquishing his position when he heard that a former classmate, O-Bank Co (王道商業銀行) chairman Kenneth Lo (駱錦明), plans to retire in the near term, and “it seemed to be good idea,” Wu said.
He said he would pursue interests such as golf, mahjong, reading, traveling, horse riding and diving.
Victor Hsu (許澎), who had previously been Shin Kong Financial’s president, vice chairman and a board member, was appointed chairman effective yesterday.
Eugene Wu’s daughter, Olivia Wu (吳欣儒), was appointed president, a position that had been vacant for two years after the former president, Catherine Lee (李紀珠), left the role in March 2018, the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.
Olivia Wu’s appointment would take effect following Financial Supervisory Commission approval, when she would take over for acting president Huang Min-yi (黃敏義), who is also vice president.
Eugene Wu said that over the past 16 years, he has prepared his daughter to be a professional leader.
He said he believes the appointment would benefit the company as Olivia Wu is younger and brighter than he is.
Oliva Wu had been the vice president of Shin Kong Financial and vice chairwoman of Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行) and was responsible for the company’s digital transition.
Meanwhile, Catherine Lee remains as Shin Kong Financial’s vice chairwoman despite objections from the company’s former independent director Lee Sheng-yann (李勝彥).
Shareholders also approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.4 per share, which was criticized by some shareholders for being too low compared with other financial conglomerates.
Eugene Wu apologized and said the company would continue to improve its profitability.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
RSS