Wahaha heiress Kelly Zong's inheritance battle puts Chinese family firms in spotlight
Hangzhou Wahaha Group , is embroiled in a wealth-inheritance dispute that has prompted questions about the sustainability of the country's family businesses.
The daughter of late founder Zong Qinghou is facing two lawsuits as three plaintiffs, claiming to be her half-brothers and half-sister, seek to prevent her from dealing with assets worth about US$2 billion. The feud surfaced just a year after the heiress won a battle for control of the company following her father's death in February 2024 at 79.
The company asserted on Monday that the lawsuits were unrelated to its operations, but the situation provoked commentary about the prospects for family-owned firms amid a shaky economy and keen competition.
'No one waves a red flag when business is good, even though family businesses' questionable corporate governance and management structure cannot support their further growth,' said Wang Feng, chairman of Ye Lang Capital, a Shanghai-based financial services group. 'Family feuds and power battles in boardrooms may hurt employee morale and brand image, particularly at a time when the companies are undergoing succession from first-generation entrepreneurs to their offspring.'
Wahaha said on Monday that it would not provide any further official response, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported. The company could not be reached for comment.
According to a January Hong Kong court document obtained by the Post, the plaintiffs – Jacky, Jessie and Jerry Zong – were demanding that Kelly Zong honour her father's will because the late founder had promised them trusts valued at US$700 million each.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
25 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
As China's public bus companies bleed cash and lose riders, are rides for pets the answer?
With public bus companies across China struggling to keep the wheels going round and round amid rising financial pressures and declining ridership, some are embracing innovative and unorthodox measures – such as repurposing their idle fleet for delivery services, or allowing pets as passengers. Zhengzhou Public Transport Group, which serves the capital city of Henan province, is among the latest to adopt an emerging 'bus-plus-logistics' business model, having announced a partnership with courier giant SF Express earlier this month. The two companies will explore leveraging idle bus capacity, such as during off-peak hours or when vehicles are unused out at night, to fulfil urgent intracity deliveries, according to a statement by SF Express. The initiative comes as the Zhengzhou Public Transport Group faces mounting financial woes. In 2024, its year-on-year revenue fell by 8.38 per cent, while its operating losses deepened by 286 per cent – from 3.03 million yuan in 2023 to 11.7 million in 2024 – according to financial data provider Wind. And it is not the only bus company under financial strain. Bus ridership has been decreasing across China in recent years, driven by a shift towards alternatives such as undergrounds, bike-sharing and ride-hailing services. Official data showed that China's public bus and trolleybus passenger volume stood at 38.67 billion in 2024. That was only slightly more than half of all passenger trips recorded in 2019 – a level that had already been on the decline.
South China Morning Post
25 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
How China's latest mega-dam threatens to undermine thaw in ties with India
Donald Trump's approach to international relations has placed China on the defensive, but by also alienating key US allies and partners, it may have created an unexpected opening for Beijing. Since the US president unveiled his tariff plans in April, Beijing has significantly ramped up efforts to improve ties with Europe, Southeast Asia, and even its most formidable regional rivals – Japan and India. In a sign of deepening detente between the Himalayan neighbours, India's external affairs minister S. Jaishankar visited Beijing last week for the first time since a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. During the visit, Jaishankar, a former ambassador to both China and the United States, met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Vice-President Han Zheng, along with President Xi Jinping as part of a group meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The trip was widely seen as paving the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the SCO summit in Tianjin at the end of August. According to state news agency Xinhua, Xi said he hoped to 'chart the course of the organisation together' with the nine other members of the SCO.
South China Morning Post
25 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Japanese regulators find Visa pressured firms, hiked fees
Japan 's antitrust watchdog said on Tuesday it had told Visa Worldwide to reform its business practices after concluding that the firm restricted and pressured card companies to use its credit information system. Advertisement It marks the first administrative action taken by the Japan Fair Trade Commission against a credit card company. The commission said the global credit card brand's Singaporean unit, which manages the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, had charged higher fees to other credit card firms that did not use its network to check credit information. The commission said the Visa unit has submitted plans to improve its practices, adding that it has accepted the plans. The company was exempted from facing fines or other punitive measures under the antimonopoly law. According to the Japan Consumer Credit Association, as of 2020, the Visa credit card brand accounted for about half of the market share in Japan. The total amount of credit card transactions in the country in 2024 stood at 116 trillion yen (US$785 billion). Credit card transactions involve an issuing company and management company, which both utilise a trusted reference system when a transaction is made, according to the watchdog. Advertisement Interchange fees, typically set by global brands, are paid by the management company to the issuing company during a transaction, while the issuing company pays a service charge to a different company – in this case Visa Worldwide – providing the reference system.
