Foxconn CEO Terry Gou to Step Down After 45 Years as Company Expands into India, AI

The chairman of Taiwan’s Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, plans to step down in the coming months.

According to a new report from Reuters, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou is halting his career there “to pave the way for younger talent to move up the company’s ranks.”

He did not give a timeline when he confirmed to a Reuters reporter his plans to resign from the Taiwan-based company he started with a loan from his mom around the same time Steve Jobs launched Apple.

Gou, 69, told Reuters that he is “working toward that direction – to walk back to the second line, or retire… I will be involved in the major direction of the company, but not involved in daily operations.”

“I’m already 69 years old,” he continued. “I can pass down my 45 years of experience. That’s the goal I set up — to let young people learn sooner and take over sooner and to replace my position sooner.”

Gou said his plans would be discussed with the board of Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, in the coming months.

“Initially, we will tell the shareholders in the AGM in June. In the board meeting in between April-May we will give the new list of board members to the board,” Gou said.



A source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Lu Sung-Ching, the chairman of Foxconn Interconnect Technology, the electronic and optoelectronic connectors unit of Foxconn, was among the possible candidates to take over from Gou.

His announcement comes as Foxconn, the largest private employer in China, is expanding its manufacturing operations in India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market, as well as entering new hi-tech fields, including artificial intelligence and autonomous driving.

Gou said at the same event in Taipei on Monday that Apple’s iPhone will start mass production in India this year, which will get Foxconn more deeply involved in the development of the country’s smartphone industry.

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