Jack Sun, the eldest son of Sun Fa-min, was elevated to the presidency of Pacific in 1986 at age 34. However, uncomfortable with Jack's youth and relative inexperience, the founders at the same time brought in longtime friend and business associate Tung Yu-jeh as chairman and a new partner. In the early years under Tung, the management team worked well. Increasingly in recent years, however, both insiders and outside observers say the younger Sun and Tung have come to represent factions that broadly disagree on the direction of the company. Though Jack Sun won't acknowledge any conflict, investment analysts say the founder's son was concerned about declining profit margins on the wire and cable side of the business.
Investment analysts applaud the separation.
By restructuring, they'll be spinning off the lower-margin cable and wireless operations. Shareholders will be pleased with a clearer, more focused strategy. Lee was the one who pushed hardest for the Iridium investment. But he compensated for that failure by also promoting the establishment of Taiwan Cellular, which has become one of the major profit centers of the entire group. Stockholders have responded to these results by doubling the share price in the past six months.