Foxconn Billionaire Terry Gou Drops Taiwan Presidential Bid

Debby Wu, Bloomberg News

Terry Gou, former chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, center, waves as he walks with Michael Marks, chairman of Katerra Inc., left, and Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp., during the G2 and Beyond Conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on Saturday, June 22, 2019. Gou, stepped down as Hon Hai chairman on June 21 to focus on winning a party nomination to compete in the 2020 Taiwanese presidential elections, had run a company that depends on Apple for half its revenue. Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg , Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Foxconn Technology Group, said he won’t contest next year’s presidential election in Taiwan, a move that may help unite the opposition Kuomintang party.

Gou’s campaign office said in a statement late Monday that he wouldn’t join the race as an independent. He withdrew from the KMT last week and was widely expected to announce a presidential run ahead of the Tuesday deadline for registration.

Gou’s candidacy threatened to sap support for the KMT’s Han Kuo-yu, who will challenge President Tsai Ing-wen in the Jan. 11 election. KMT leaders including Tsai’s predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou, had urged Gou to support their nominee and help return the China-friendly party to power.

To contact the reporter on this story: Debby Wu in Taipei at dwu278@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Tony Jordan