Shin Kong Financial Holding Co Ltd (新光金控) yesterday announced that chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) had stepped down in an unexpected board reshuffle that surprised the market.
Wu, who founded Shin Kong Financial and has run the firm for about 18 years, stepped down as chairman with immediate effect after the company’s board yesterday approved the move.
“I am not retiring due to any disease, and I hope the public will not speculate too much,” Wu told reporters in Taipei after the board meeting.
“I just do not want to be like my father, who died of sudden cardiac arrest in the office. He faced heavy psychological and physical pressure 34 years ago, when the economy entered a recession,” Wu said.
“There is no rule that we must die on the battlefield,” he added.
Wu has led many of Shin Kong Group’s (新光集團) subsidiaries, such as Taiwan Shin Kong Security Co (新光保全) and Great Taipei Gas Corp (大台北瓦斯) after his father, Wu Ho-su (吳火獅), the founder of the family business, passed away in 1986.
The 75-year-old Wu considered relinquishing his position when he heard that a former classmate, O-Bank Co (王道商業銀行) chairman Kenneth Lo (駱錦明), plans to retire in the near term, and “it seemed to be good idea,” Wu said.
He said he would pursue interests such as golf, mahjong, reading, traveling, horse riding and diving.
Victor Hsu (許澎), who had previously been Shin Kong Financial’s president, vice chairman and a board member, was appointed chairman effective yesterday.
Eugene Wu’s daughter, Olivia Wu (吳欣儒), was appointed president, a position that had been vacant for two years after the former president, Catherine Lee (李紀珠), left the role in March 2018, the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.
Olivia Wu’s appointment would take effect following Financial Supervisory Commission approval, when she would take over for acting president Huang Min-yi (黃敏義), who is also vice president.
Eugene Wu said that over the past 16 years, he has prepared his daughter to be a professional leader.
He said he believes the appointment would benefit the company as Olivia Wu is younger and brighter than he is.
Oliva Wu had been the vice president of Shin Kong Financial and vice chairwoman of Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行) and was responsible for the company’s digital transition.
Meanwhile, Catherine Lee remains as Shin Kong Financial’s vice chairwoman despite objections from the company’s former independent director Lee Sheng-yann (李勝彥).
Shareholders also approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.4 per share, which was criticized by some shareholders for being too low compared with other financial conglomerates.
Eugene Wu apologized and said the company would continue to improve its profitability.
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