Forbes
Date: Apr 26, 2019
By: William Pesek, Contributor
Taiwanese voters may soon have a novel tool to break the political gridlock
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou (EPA/Kimimasa Mayama)
undermining the economy: a CEO president.
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou is tossing his hat into the ring ahead of a 2020 campaignalready captivating the island’s 24 million people. The impulse of supporters is clear enough: only a brash and visionary businessman can fix Taipei’s dysfunction. Yet they’re engaging in a fantasy that could end badly.
Gou, 68, is best known in the West for running Apple Inc.’s most important iPhone maker. But also for playing another CEO leader–Donald Trump–like a proverbial fiddle. Gou did just that in Wisconsin last year. There, Gou planned to open a $10 billion manufacturing complex, delighting President Trump, who joined him there for the groundbreaking ceremony.
Trump touted a major coup for his push to make America great again with 13,000 new jobs. But the win was Gou’s, as Wisconsin’s government, a Trump party mate, offered to cough up $4.5 billion of that tab via tax breaks and other incentives.
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