Chang Kuo-wei wins Evergreen succession war
A court in Taiwan has ruled Chang Kuo-wei, the youngest son of late Evergreen chairman Chang Yung-fa, is entitled to solely inherit around TWD14bn ($460m) worth of assets and take over as chairman of Evergreen Group according to Chang Yung-fa’s will.
The ruling comes four years after Chang Yung-fa died in 2016 and left behind a will naming Chang Kuo-wei as the new chairman of Evergreen Group and the sole heir of his assets. The will led to a succession battle within the Chang family with Chang Kuo-wei’s three elder brothers filing a lawsuit against him questioning the authenticity of the will.
The three older brothers terminated the top management division of the group, along with the chairman role with their power in the board to oust Chang Kuo-wei from the group.
Chang Kuo-wei later founded his own airline StarLux, which launched its first flights in January.
The Taipei District Court has determined that the will is legally binding after a long period of investigation, while the court decision can be appealed.
Evergreen Group operates two main businesses – shipping line Evergreen Marine and airline EVA Airways.
Evergreen founder Chang Yung-fa died in January 2016, aged 88. Chang founded Evergreen in 1968 and by the turn of the century it was second only to Maersk in the liner stakes. Today, the Taipei-headquartered line is the seventh largest in the world with 1.24m slots according to data from Alphaliner.