Fate of Taiwanese Billionaire’s Fortune Uncertain

Taiwanesebusiness icon, Y.C. Wang, passed away in 2008 at age 91 worth an estimated $6.8billion.  Leaving no will, the manufacturing titan diedwith one wife, nine children with two other women, and three children fromanother woman also claiming he’s their father.

Wang’seldest son, Winston Wong, has “asked a Bermuda court to void an ‘unlawful’transfer of assets currently worth $15 billion into four offshore trusts saidto be established in secret by a minority of Y.C. Wang’s family without hisfather’s consent.” 

The battle concerninghis estate isn’t just about Wang’s fortune. Offshore shares of the FormosaPlastics Group could determine control of the company.  Also, Wang’s heirs are U.S. citizens soTaiwanese and American tax authorities should be interested in whether theoverseas trusts belong in Wang’s estate.

See Russell Flannery,Taiwan’s Missing $15 Billion Fortune?,Forbes, May 29, 2013.