Former Sharp CEO loses court case against Foxconn Technology

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former Sharp Corporation CEO Tai Jeng-wu (戴正吳) lost his NT$600 million (US$18.76 million) court case against Foxconn Technology, reports said Saturday.

Tai argued he was not properly compensated for his role in turning Sharp around after the 2016 takeover of the Japanese company by Foxconn. He said he signed an incentive contract with Foxconn’s then-Chair Terry Gou (郭台銘) which would give him 3% of Foxconn shares if he succeeded in his job at Sharp.

Tai managed to make the company profitable again and have it relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section in 15 months, but alleged he did not receive the promised sum from Foxconn.

Following several rounds of unsuccessful negotiations between Tai and Foxconn, the New Taipei District Court ruled against the former Sharp CEO, Mirror Daily reported Saturday. Foxconn argued that the promise of 3% had only been signed by Gou and never been approved by a board meeting or by the company’s wages committee. Gou’s attorneys said the document only showed a general proposal, but did not amount to a binding decision for Foxconn.

The New Taipei District Court agreed with the arguments by Foxconn and Gou, according to Mirror Daily. The court also ruled that incentive decisions could not be made by Gou alone as company chair, with the incentive contract only counting as a proposal. Since Foxconn and Tai never reached an agreement on a formula for the incentive payment, the proposal to give 3% of the stock to Tai was not binding, the court ruled.