Wahaha heiress Kelly Zong to appeal over frozen US$1.8 billion HSBC account

China beverage heiress Kelly Zong is seeking to appeal two orders imposed on her over the US$1.8 billion assets held in an HSBC Holdings bank account as part of an inheritance feud with her half siblings.

A Hong Kong court granted an order this month preventing the Hangzhou Wahaha Group chairwoman from tapping the account following a challenge by three of her half-siblings. Zong was also required to provide information about transactions and the latest balance, according to the judgment handed down on Aug 1.

A hearing on Zong’s appeal was set for Sep 30, according to a statement on the court website on Monday (Aug 18). The post was later removed, though the reasons were unclear. Zong is planning to seek court permission to appeal, according to a person familiar with the case, who requested not to be named because the information is private.

Anthony Siu, the lawyer representing Zong, did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for Karas So, the law firm for the half-siblings, declined to comment.

The 43-year-old head of the Chinese beverage giant was sued by three people identified as her half brothers and half sister. Jacky, Jessie and Jerry Zong are seeking US$2.1 billion in trust assets that they said their late father promised them before he died in February last year.

The three plaintiffs claim the beverage company’s founder, Zong Qinghou, gave “hand-written instructions” to one of his subordinates in January 2024 to set up three trusts each worth US$700 million.

They are requesting that Kelly honor their father’s will, pay millions in interest on their assets, and compensate them for losses incurred from the transfer of their funds. The case has drawn attention and lit up social media in China since Bloomberg News first reported on the proceedings in July.

The dispute among the half siblings could set a legal precedent for wealth succession in China and cast a shadow over one of the country’s most iconic beverage empires. Once China’s richest man, the late Zong founded Wahaha in 1987, starting from a milky nutrition drink, before expanding into bottled water, tea and fruit juices. The Zong family has a fortune of at least US$3.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index.

When Qinghou died at the age of 79 in February last year, Kelly took charge of the privately-held group after spending months settling internal shareholder disputes. BLOOMBERG