Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it has invited Pegatron Corp (和碩) vice chairman Ted Hsu (徐世昌) to serve as the company’s chief strategy officer from next month, an announcement that sparked speculation about the Asustek chairman’s succession plan.
“We are honored to invite Hsu to join Asustek… We expect Hsu’s vision and management abilities to lead Asustek in becoming a leading company in the new digital era,” Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) said in a statement.
The company’s announcement came after the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that Shih plans to retire and let Hsu, one of the founders of Asustek, take over his position.
Photo: Lee Yi-ju, Taipei Times
The 64-year-old Shih has been serving as Asustek chairman for 22 years, successfully leading the company in its transformation from a motherboard maker to a PC vendor. Under Shih’s leadership, the company now aims to become one of the top smartphone vendors in the world.
Shih plans to retire while the company is still growing because he wants to spend more time with his mother, especially after Asustek’s former chief financial officer David Chang (張偉明) unexpectedly passed away in July last year, the report said.
It is widely believed that Shih wants Hsu to take over at Asustek because Hsu has always been valued by Shih as an outstanding talent in the technology industry.
People who are familiar with Shih said he initially planned to appoint Hsu chairman of Pegatron when the contract electronics maker split from Asustek in 2008.
Asustek declined to comment on the speculation about Shih’s succession plan.
“I can only say that we invited Ted [Hsu] to become our chief strategy officer and board member, as he is an extraordinary talent, but the company will not comment on the report,” Asustek spokesman Nick Wu (吳長榮) said by telephone.
Wu said chief strategy officer is a new position at Asustek which oversees the company’s research and development, quality control, customer services, and cloud-computing and artificial intelligence businesses.
Asustek plans to convene a provisional shareholders meeting in the next three months to officially nominate Hsu as a new board member, Wu said.
Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) said Hsu would resign from all his posts at Pegatron and its subsidiaries before the end of this month.
Hsu has been Tung’s business partner for more than 20 years and it was Hsu’s personal choice to leave Pegatron, Tung said in a statement.
“Hsu made a brave and difficult career decision. His exit from the company has nothing to do with Pegatron’s business position and the company’s operations will not be affected,” Tung said by telephone.
Tung said he, chief executive officer Jason Cheng (程建中) and chief operating officer S.J. Liao (廖錫政) would host a farewell party for Hsu.
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