Foxconn founder Terry Gou lies low in Taiwan election as China tax probe reverberates
TAIPEI (Reuters) — After mastering making iPhones, Taiwan's Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of major Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier Foxconn, wanted to turn his entrepreneurial skills elsewhere — to be the island's next president.
But three months out from the election, Gou, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $6.7 billion, has gone to ground.
He last appeared at a campaign event on Sunday night, the day a Chinese newspaper said authorities had begun a tax probe into Foxconn's operations in China, even though he stepped back from running the world's largest contract manufacturer four years ago.
He cancelled a Monday event without explanation and had no public arrangements for Tuesday or Wednesday, unusual given the previous frequency of his rallies.
The tax investigation was first reported by the state-backed, strongly nationalist Chinese tabloid the Global Times, but in its English version of the story it suggested what China was actually unhappy with was Gou running for president as an independent, a decision he announced in August.
That was because, the paper said, Gou would split the opposition vote and «in the end favour secessionist» Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, making his victory more certain.
China claims Taiwan as its own and believes Lai, who leads opinion polls, is a separatist bent on a formal declaration of independence. Lai says he will maintain the status quo and that only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Since the Global Times report came out, Gou's team has declined to comment, referring questions to Foxconn itself.
Gou, 72, has continued to post on his Facebook (NASDAQ:META) account, but not mentioned the probe.
Late on Tuesday, Gou posted about late Apple founder Steve Jobs, whom
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