Is Huang Qiulian, the important financial official, expected to succeed Terry Gou?

Some time ago, Foxconn Group Chairman Terry Gou announced his participation in the 2020 Kuomintang primary election for Taiwan's leader, and declared that he would "step back to the second line" and hand over daily operations to managers. Foreign institutions pointed out that the board of directors reorganized at Foxconn's shareholders' meeting in June will be a pointer to reviewing Terry Gou's "fading out", and Foxconn's succession team is also expected to become clearer.

Today (6), according to a report by Central News Agency, the succession situation of Foxconn's internal senior management is becoming clearer. It is rumored that Terry Gou will retreat to the second line but still serve as the group president. The new chairman of Foxconn is planned to be Huang Qiulian, a key financial official, and the general manager will be a professional manager.

       It is understood that Huang Qiulian is currently the vice president and chief financial officer of Hon Hai Group, leading the J-Group under Hon Hai, which is responsible for financial accounting.

       Employees of Hon Hai Group call Huang Qiulian "Money Mom". She is an important financial minister of Hon Hai Group. All Hon Hai investment projects, big or small, need her signature to pass. Huang Qiulian is also in charge of the key fund allocation of Hon Hai's large investment projects around the world. There is a saying among Hon Hai insiders that if Guo Taiming stamps, he may not get the money; but if Huang Qiulian stamps, he will definitely get the money. Her importance in Hon Hai Group is obvious.

       According to Hon Hai's annual report, Hon Hai Group has more than 800 affiliated companies, of which Huang Qiulian is the nominal chairman or chief director of at least 75 of them. Huang Qiulian serves as the chairman of Hon Hai Group's important investment companies, such as Baoxin International Investment, Hongjing International Investment, Hongqi International Investment, and Hongyuan International Investment. These investment companies also manage Hon Hai Group's major subsidiaries. Huang Qiulian also indirectly controls the operations of the group's major subsidiaries and grandson companies through these investment companies.

       On the 3rd, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou flew from Washington to Wisconsin. Regarding his retirement from the "jianghu", Terry Gou said that he believed that the new generation will always replace the old generation, and that Foxconn without Terry Gou will do better than before.

       However, Guo Taiming also said at the time that his so-called retirement was different from the American understanding of retirement. He would not retire completely, but would retire but not rest. He would still serve as chairman, giving his successors the opportunity to make mistakes, and he would pull his successors back on track when they made mistakes.

       Previously, people close to Foxconn said that the company might follow Huawei's example and adopt a rotating president system.

However, according to people familiar with the matter, Foxconn's future senior succession team may not adopt Formosa Plastics' multi-governance group or Huawei's rotating chairman model. Foxconn's new chairman and general manager will be full-time employees.

       As for the plans for the new chairman and general manager, people familiar with the matter revealed that the previous governance style in which Terry Gou served as Hon Hai's chairman and general manager will change. The new chairman of Hon Hai is planned to be Huang Qiulian, a key financial official. This also means that Huang Qiulian will be nominated as one of the candidates for Hon Hai's new director.

       In addition, the new general manager may not be revealed until after Hon Hai's shareholders meeting on June 21, and it is expected that the new general manager will be a professional manager.

       An unnamed analyst pointed out that Foxconn currently has 13 sub-groups, each of which is formed according to different customer types and is customer-oriented to serve customers. The vice presidents of each sub-group have important responsibilities, and the real power is gradually being handed over to the general managers of the sub-groups.

       Some sub-group companies have also been listed in Taiwan, Hong Kong or China, and some vice presidents also serve as chairmen of listed companies, responsible for relatively complex affairs. After Terry Gou stepped down as chairman of Hon Hai, Hon Hai Group still needs to transcend the top leadership center of each sub-group to continue the centralized execution and decision-making of the entire group.

       Currently, the managers of Foxconn's major sub-groups include Chi Yu-yang, Jiang Zhixiong, Xu Mu-ji, Jian Yi-bin, Dai Zheng-wu, Wu Hui-feng, Lu Fang-ming, Chen Zhenguo, Huang Qiulian, Lu Songqing, Wu Liang-xiang, and Liu Yang-wei. It is not ruled out that some of them will become candidates for Foxconn's new directors.

       Chi Yuyang is the acting chairman of Foxconn, which is listed in Hong Kong. Dai Zhengwu is also the president of Sharp, which is invested by Hon Hai. Lu Fangming is the chairman of Asia Pacific Telecom, which is listed in Taiwan. Lu Songqing is the chairman of Hon Teng 6088 Precision Technology, which is listed in Hong Kong. In addition, Li Junqi is the chairman of Industrial Internet, which is listed in Shanghai, China.

       According to the Public Information Observatory, Hon Hai's current board of directors includes Chairman Terry Gou, legal representatives of Hongqiao International Investment Mao Yunan and Chen Zhenguo, legal representative of Honjing International Investment Lv Fangming; as well as Huang Qingyuan and Song Xueren; in addition, independent directors include Wang Guocheng, Zhan Qixian, and Kai-Fu Lee.

       Hon Hai will hold a shareholders meeting on June 21 to re-elect directors. People familiar with the matter expect Hon Hai to announce the list of director candidates as early as May 12.