Taiwanese tycoon left no will; 9 heirs born to different women duke it out in NJ court

Taiwanese tycoon’s 9 heirs duke it out in NJ court

NEWARK, N.J. — When Taiwanese plastics magnate Wang Yung-ching died last year in New Jersey at age 91, he left behind a legacy as one of the world’s 200 richest people, a wife and nine children born to other women — but no will.

Those offspring are now jockeying for pieces of his billions in a battle so complex that a lawyer for one of his children opened arguments Thursday in probate court in Newark by displaying an elaborate family tree and a diagram of Wang’s holdings in several countries.

The case has riveted members of the Chinese and Taiwanese public from New York City to Taipei. It’s the talk of Taiwan, competing for attention with a typhoon that just scoured the island.

Wang (WAHNG’), a tea farmer’s son with only an elementary school education, spent his early years as an impoverished childhood laborer in Taiwan before building Formosa Plastics Group into a multinational conglomerate with U.S. headquarters in Livingston, N.J.

Starting his business with a small loan from a U.S. aid agency in 1954, he amassed a personal fortune estimated at nearly $7 billion and was given a state funeral in Taiwan after he died last year.

Court papers say his company is the world’s largest producer of PVC, used to make everything from paint to plastic bags.

At issue in court is which of Wang’s heirs should be named administrator of his fortune, and whether New Jersey is the right jurisdiction to determine the extent and distribution of his vast worldwide holdings.

A judge denied a motion Thursday by one of Wang’s daughters to dismiss the case outright and requested that more information be submitted before deciding on jurisdiction and other matters.

Several of Wang’s nine children want control; his oldest son, 58-year-old Winston Wong — who uses a different English spelling of the same last name, a common practice — filed the complaint in New Jersey arguing he should be named administrator of his father’s estate. Wong said his father considered New Jersey his home and built his fortune from here.

“I have no doubt that New Jersey was the epicenter of my father’s business dealings,” Wong said after court Thursday, noting that his father always spoke of how grateful he was to the U.S. for the loan that started him on his way.

“He started his business here as a payback to the U.S., and only from America he realized his dream of investing in China,” Wong said.

In court papers, Wong claims his father’s fortune is larger than previously thought, possibly around $14 billion. He says two half-sisters and two cousins established secret trusts to hide up to $7.5 billion of Wang’s money in offshore accounts, and another $1 billion in Switzerland to conceal the assets from other family members and avoid paying taxes.

None of the children are from Wang’s wife of more than 70 years, Wang Yueh Lan, who lives in Taiwan, is considered his legal widow and stands to inherit half her husband’s fortune. She has granted power of attorney to Wong, who is petitioning to become her legal guardian.

Several of the tycoon’s children are arguing against their half-brother by saying that New Jersey courts have no jurisdiction, and that Wong should not be recognized as guardian to their father’s wife. Wong disputes those claims.

Wong was the only child in court Thursday, but lawyers for several siblings, as well as Formosa company lawyers, all stood before the judge.

In addition to his widow, Wang had at least two longtime companions other than his wife, fathering five children with one and four daughters with another woman who already had a daughter. A “fourth wife” has emerged in Taiwan recently, claiming she has three children fathered by Wang.

Raymond Wong (no relation) — a Mandarin-speaking attorney from New York who is not involved in the case but was in court to explain the U.S. legal system to the foreign media — said such multiple relationships were common in China and Taiwan when Wang was a young man.

Wong’s lawyer, Michael Griffinger, tried to explain the relationships to the judge by separating the various claims to Wang’s fortune into “family 1,” ”family 2,” and “family 3.” Wong’s motive in bringing the case was to “learn more about the assets of the estate, where they are located and who has access to them,” Griffinger said.

Critics say Wong wants the case decided in the U.S. only because the other common-law wives won’t be recognized here.

“Winston wants to open a Pandora’s box,” Raymond Wong said. “He represents the first wife, so he’s already well taken care of — he’s already a billion-dollar man. There’s plenty of money to go around.”

On the Net:

Formosa Plastics: www.fpcusa.com/