Billionaire Terry Gou, the founder of Apple’s main supplier Foxconn, dropped out of the race for Taiwan’s presidency on Friday after opposition talks to nominate a single candidate to oppose the formation of a government failed, a newspaper reported. Reuters cites Agerpres.

Gou announced his candidacy in August, saying he wanted to unite the opposition and ensure the self-ruled island did not become “the next Ukraine” and accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of bringing Taiwan to the brink of war over the opposition to China

After gathering enough signatures to run as an independent candidate and finally getting approval from the Electoral Commission last week, Gow announced in a statement that he was “retiring physically, but not spiritually.”

“STOP, RESET, RESTART,” he added in English. Gou did not say what he would do next in the presidential campaign or who he might support – Hou Yu of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) or former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-jhe of the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).

“We must win! fine? Let’s complete the change of power and change Taiwan,” he said. Ko thanked Gou in a comment on the latter’s Facebook page. “We will definitely win!” Ko added.

Gou tried to broker talks between opposition parties to come together against the ruling party, but those efforts failed spectacularly on Thursday after a heated argument between opposition party leaders in front of the media, broadcast live on Taiwanese television.

Opinion polls showed Gou, 73, in last place among candidates from Taiwan. The next presidential election in Taiwan will be held on January 13.

The billionaire claimed that the sea goddess told him to run for president

Gou also tried to run for president in 2020, claiming at the time that Mazu, a famous sea goddess in Chinese mythology, told him in a dream to run.

However, he came only second in the primary election organized by the Kuomintang Party, of which he was a member at the time, and announced that he had no intention of running as an independent candidate.

The Kuomintang is considered a pro-China party in Taiwan, and Gou, in turn, has expressed support for Beijing’s “one China” policy. The billionaire accused the Democratic Progressive Party of promoting Taiwan independence and “hatred and opposition to China.”

He left the Kuomintang in 2019 and has been active as an independent politician since then.

Bloomberg estimates his fortune at $6.59 billion.