Meet the tech billionaire whose foray into politics is stoking anger in China

US president Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were all smiles this week. But for how long? Terry Gou’s bid to be Taiwan’s next president could provoke a new flashpoint between the two superpowers – and also be bad news for Apple – warns Adam Luck

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Foxconn, is running to be Taiwan’s next president (Kyodo News via AP)

Should you get an iPhone, iMac, a Nintendo Switch game, or Amazon Kindle this Christmas, then you should consider sending a thank you note to Terry Gou.

The Taiwanese billionaire has built a £5.5bn fortune by helping to revolutionise high-tech consumer goods and, with it, feed our addiction to electronic gadgets.

Gou, who has hailed the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan as his hero, has created in tech giant Foxconn a global empire that generated $200bn (£161bn) revenue last year. It boasts nearly 1 million employees, largely based in China, and a blue-chip roll call of clients that includes Microsoft, Dell and Sony, as well as Apple.