Founder of Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer. He is credited with being a deft political operator who persuaded local governments in China to provide his company with big subsidies in the 1990s, allowing Foxconn to buy the world's best machinery for its Chinese factories. Foxconn was instrumental in training China's vast but largely unskilled labour force, and became the principal manufacturer of Apple's iPod and iPhone.
Sources: The Economist, May 21st 2025
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