Preliminary statement: This article does not make any moral judgments, and the internal affairs of wealthy families are not suitable for moral evaluation. At the same time, this article is a subjective judgment based on public information and media experience, and I am not required to provide empirical evidence.
Because of a wave of disputes over the inheritance between a “big heroine” and illegitimate children, Zong Qinghou’s image as a patriotic entrepreneur, which he had painstakingly managed for half his life, has been ruined.
People were surprised to find that what Zong Qinghou had fought to take back from the French with the banner of protecting national enterprises is now to be left to a group of Americans.
However, it’s not quite accurate to say that people “discovered” this. This information has existed for more than a decade, and there are actually hundreds or even thousands of people who know about it. It has been kept secret for so many years, and it didn’t surface until more than a year after Zong Qinghou’s death. It can be seen that neither Zong Qinghou himself nor the rumored six illegitimate children had the motivation to bring this information to the surface.
Because this situation is beneficial to everyone:
For Zong Qinghou, concealing the fact of having illegitimate children and his children’s US citizenship could preserve his reputation as a patriotic entrepreneur and a loving father; for the six illegitimate children, giving up the control of Wahaha in exchange for the inheritance of billions of wealth for generations to come is the most practical benefit.
Zong Qinghou’s arrangements were meticulous, and the only thing he didn’t expect, or perhaps sensed but was unwilling to accept, should be the successor Zong Fuli’s determination to become the big heroine.
Ten years ago, Zong Fuli was asked too many questions about her father, Zong Qinghou, during a media interview, and she asked the reporter:
Can you see me?
I don’t know if the readers can understand this feeling of wanting to prove themselves and wanting to be seen by breaking away from the influence of their fathers. I can completely understand it.
What she wants is to be seen and respected as the big heroine Zong Fuli, rather than being scrutinized and envied as Zong Qinghou’s daughter.
Of course, I only confirmed this point until I read an article titled “Don’t Mess with Zong Fuli” tonight. This article has a very obvious Zong Fuli perspective, but the content is merciless to Zong Qinghou himself.
If this is true, then everything makes sense:
The illegitimate children who suddenly surfaced, the big heroine persona that appeared out of nowhere, the complete abandonment of Zong Qinghou’s public image management…
The first sword upon landing is to cut down the old father.
This has never been a battle for succession. Because Zong Fuli has already completed the succession and taken power, and now no one can threaten her position, whether at the legal or public opinion level.
This has never been a fight for inheritance. On the one hand, the inheritance rights of several illegitimate children have been arranged long ago, and it is not so easy to make them leave with nothing; on the other hand, compared to the billions of trust assets, Zong Fuli’s core interest lies in Wahaha’s brand image and political correctness. Losing political correctness, the Zong family may lose everything, and the collapse of Zong Qinghou’s image caused by the inheritance dispute (including the suspicion of embezzling state-owned assets) may really make the Zong family lose political correctness over the control of Wahaha.
But Zong Fuli still took a gamble because she had something more important, which is to be seen as Zong Fuli.
This mentality, if you change the gender, is easy to understand, which is the so-called “Oedipus complex”, a man needs to “kill” his father spiritually to break out of the shadow and establish himself. But when it comes to Zong Fuli as a woman, it’s hard for people to think of this at first.
Now, Zong Fuli has successfully completed the succession and taken power, and she wants to establish her own business empire and establish the image of Zong Fuli as the big heroine. There is only one way to go:
Pull Zong Qinghou down from the altar.
Therefore, actively touching the trust fund left to the illegitimate children, making the existence of the illegitimate children and their US citizenship public, may not really take away the hush money that the old father gave to his younger siblings, but it can definitely make the image that the father has painstakingly built for a lifetime collapse and shatter.
In this way, people have the opportunity to truly see Zong Fuli.
I reiterate that this article does not intend to make any moral judgments, but only to propose a theory to explain the current phenomenon. The above reasoning may not be correct, and it’s up to you whether you believe it or not.
Next, I want to talk about a serious topic, which is the subsequent development of the matter and the issues involving public interests.
First, Zong Fuli’s current situation actually has a very big risk. If the matter of Du Jianying, the then-party secretary of Wahaha Group, and Zong Qinghou giving birth to children continues to ferment in public opinion, the wealth and income that Zong Qinghou’s family has obtained from Wahaha Group over the years may be re-examined for its legality. Accordingly, the legality of Zong Fuli’s current equity control of Wahaha Group will also be challenged.
Second, the birth and development of Wahaha Group is a legend of an era, and it is also inevitably accompanied by the problems left over from that special era, that is, the distribution of interests between state-owned assets and private entrepreneurs.
On the one hand, without Zong Qinghou, there would be no Wahaha Group as it is today, and there would not be so many commercial interests available for distribution. Zong Qinghou’s efforts are a decisive factor; on the other hand, without the background of state-owned capital, the dispute between Wahaha and the French company Danone back then, and the problems Wahaha has encountered in its development over the years, would not have been resolved so smoothly. The existence of state-owned capital is not without contribution.
For the Zong family, the most ideal situation is actually that the issue of interest distribution has been shelved, and at the same time, the Zong family quietly rebuilds a pure private system that belongs only to the Zong family outside the Wahaha system, hollowing out the Wahaha Group.
Now, the issue of interest distribution between state-owned capital and the Zong family is being put on the table again for discussion, and whether to investigate the issue of hollowing out Wahaha is up to the leaders.
What Zong Fuli can rely on is the country’s caution about the chilling effect on private enterprises, but the scale here is actually very subtle. As public opinion develops, it may turn into complying with public opinion in a matter of minutes.
Third, whether Zong Fuli’s big heroine status can stand firm, getting rid of Zong Qinghou’s influence is only the first step. What really plays a decisive role is whether she can really recreate a business empire on the existing basis.
The ambition has already been shown, it depends on whether the ability matches.
But the most important thing is to survive this round of legal review by the regulatory authorities first.
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