The founder of a key Apple supplier said the US stock market would collapse in '10 seconds' if war broke out in Taiwan. He deleted the comment within hours of posting it.

• Terry Gou said the US stock market would crash in 10 seconds if war broke out on the Taiwan Strait.
• The Foxconn founder said Taiwan's role in the world economy was more crucial than that of Ukraine.

The founder of a key Apple supplier warned of disaster on Wall Street if war broke out in Taiwan.

"If a war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, it wouldn't take a month or even an hour, but just 10 seconds for the Wall Street stock market to collapse," the Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou wrote on Facebook on Wednesday, according to an Insider translation. His post appears to have been deleted by Thursday morning, although a cached copy remains.

Gou, the 72-year-old founder of the contract-manufacturing giant Foxconn, wrote the post after meeting with Thomas Friedman, a columnist at The New York Times.

He said he told Friedman that Taiwan's role in the global economy was far more important than that of Ukraine, which is now embroiled in a war with Russia. China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled country that is the world's top chip supplier, as its territory and has been ramping up military drills around the island.

Gou said that Taiwan might be able to hold out in a war for three months but that the impact on the world's economy and financial markets would be huge and immediate.

Gou founded Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, in 1974. He is worth nearly $7.2 billion, with a substantial portion of his wealth derived from a 12.6% stake in the publicly traded division of Foxconn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The tycoon's comments about geopolitical tensions in the Taiwan Strait come amid speculation about his political ambitions.

The business magnate stepped down as Foxconn's chairman in 2019 in a bid to run for Taiwan's presidency but dropped out of the race after he failed to win the nomination of KMT, Taiwan's main opposition party. He tried again this year but failed to win the party's nomination for a second time.

Analysts told the South China Morning Post last month that Gou might still run for the presidency.

Gou did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Taiwan presidential election is scheduled for January 13, 2024.