Self-made billionaire Terry Gou is the founder of Foxconn, a company known all over the world as the manufacturer of many of Apple’s major products, including the ubiquitous iPhone, which it started producing in 2007.

Gou started the company, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, in 1974, making plastic knobs for black-and-white TV sets. His legendary salesmanship got him several orders from the United States, enabling him to open his first factory in China in 1988. Since the 90s, Hon Hai’s customers included Compaq, HP, IBM, and Apple. Today, Apple’s electronics business accounts for half the company’s revenue.

Seeking to diversify, Hon Hai has started supplying parts to electric vehicle makers like Tesla and will also help produce the M-Byte, an EV by Chinese startup Byton.

Gou resigned his position as chairman of Hon Hai Precision in 2019, hoping to run for president in the 2020 elections but failed to win the Kuomintang presidential primary. He hinted that he was considering running again for the presidency in 2024, as a poll early in January 2023 showed him coming in second choice for voters.