Heir Mail #10
One heiress does crimes and her country loves her, another heiress does crimes and her country hates her.
Hello! You’re reading HeirMail, the only newsletter to come from me (hi) setting a Google Alert for the word “heiress” and then just writing about whatever pops up.
This week, let’s cut right to some wealthy ladies breaking! the! law! Or at the least, laws of propriety. Plus, tips on how to buy land (one hint: what’s yours is mine).
CTRL + F:
Annabel Yao gets roasted on Weibo, not as popular as her criminal sister Meng Wanzhou
Our friend the “water rage” heiress reminds me to ask if anyone knows of a KDrama version of Succession; I would watch.
Rich people buy and sell property, as you might if you had any money. Well, one of them’s dead, but you get it. Real estate roundup!
In the rest of the alert: the star of Bling Empire, an AARP podcast about a scam heiress, weekly Ecclestone, the vaccinated Kim Lim, a $30 beach romper, a Midsomer Murders writer tries to screw over his ex-gf over a Meryl movie, FPB’s ex-publicist friend seems to be bleeding compadres.
“Huawei heiress Annabel Yao makes a grandiose foray into showbiz. Haters have a lot to say,” SupChina
“Annabel Yao, Huawei founder’s daughter, mocked for showbiz career announcement in a splashy 17-minute documentary,” South China Morning Post
I love headlines like “Huawei heiress Annabel Yao makes a grandiose foray into showbiz. Haters have a lot to say” because it’s like, hey, I didn’t say anything, but people who hate this chick have material. I have used similar constructions in my own work, if not precisely that.
I also love that this headline is from a website called SupChina which, when you scroll to the bottom, is endorsed by Max Baucus, former US Ambassador to China, who says, “A jewel in the crown of China reporting. I look to it daily... It adds so much insight into the real China." (When Baucus’s ambassadorship ended in 2017, he went directly to work for Amazon competitor Alibaba until 2019. I don’t know what my point is, that’s just true and I wanted to say it!)
Anyways, Annabel Yao has come up before and I have to admit I may have been among the haters. I found our initial meeting, in November 2020, kind of underwhelming. It was a slideshow on MSN UK about a young ballerina (that’s Annabel) which only picked up when it mentioned her sister Meng Wanzhou (who I noted at the time is “accused of fraud in Canada AND breaking trade law in the US”). But Annabel’s debut is for real — she wants to be in showbiz, baby. She got the cover of Harper’s Bazaar China, a 17-minute documentary (in Chinese but available on YouTube), and a poster.
Annabel Yao’s poster | via SupChina, via Weibo
In the documentary, she says “I had often wondered why there were so many negative comments about me on the internet and everyone seemed to prefer Meng over me.” (Oh no, that’s me! I gave her -30 heiress points for “not being as compelling as your half-sister even in your own slideshow!”) “I thought it was unfair at first. But later I realized that everyone had their haters and supporters. That’s beyond my control. But what I can do is employ those doubts to propel my career forward.”
Her sister is a 48-year-old woman who is being held against her will in Canada and Annabel is a 23-year-old wannabe actress so at first I was like, huh, seems odd that would be the social breakdown, but it turns out Meng has serious power. For one thing, she makes the news without appearing in the heiress alert, which is something of a feat all by itself, given her background. And the content, oh my god. Just this week, reports of how lovely her detainment in Canada sounds emerged from the Washington Post — she had Christmas dinner for 14, including her husband and kids, in a restaurant, and she gets to go shopping. She has guards, like Ghislaine Maxwell proposed having and was denied, but she wants rid of them. They’re crowding her! The guards, in return, say she and her group act like the virus doesn’t exist. (I am absolutely dying to know if she’s had the vaccine.)
The reasons for Meng’s arrest are also more compelling that I dug into last November, and they’re worth a rundown here if you, like me, had only a vague idea of what happened. The Post explains:
The U.S. Justice Department alleges that Meng misled banks about the nature of Huawei’s relationship with an Iranian-based subsidiary, effectively tricking them into clearing transactions that violated U.S. sanctions prohibiting business dealings with Iran.
The daughter of a Chinese telecom giant tricking the US into doing business with Iran on behalf of her father’s company, whoops! No wonder everyone pays more attention to her.
Plus, Meng’s not the only one in detention following her actions; two Canadian men have been jailed in China in what the country says is not retaliation. No evidence has been presented in their espionage trials. About the Canandians’ release, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said “The one who tied a knot should be the one that undoes it,” which he claims is a Chinese saying. He left it to Canada to “work out a way to undo this knot.”
Conning whole governments; chilling in a magically coronavirus-free Vancouver while you’re supposed to be awaiting trial for your crimes; getting two men arrested in retaliation despite your chill sitch — morals aside, I think we can all agree, these are serious answers to the question “what can money really buy?”
I’m sorry, Meng, Meng, Meng! Back to Annabel! Weibo users reportedly hate her.
There are comments about her not having talent, comments about her privilege, as the video shows her struggles including, reportedly, eating salad in a cab, comments about how her sister contributes to the company and Annabel doesn’t (and why doesn’t Annabel try to save her!). The verdict is in and she’s a spoiled little rich girl, people are saying. I’m not suggesting she should try defrauding the US but… it seems like the fans respect it.
Estimated net worth (originally from 11.29.2020): SCMP puts her dad at $1.1 billion. Also, here’s a bunch of links about how Huawei phones are banned in the UK (and the US) and how they’re “the world’s most controversial company.” TLDR, it’s mostly for spying on us on behalf of China!
“Shareholder activism intensifies on Hanjin's 'water rage' heiress,” Korea Times
Emily Lee Cho (aka Cho Hyun-min) is still trying to maintain control of her family’s company, which owns Korea Air, and she is getting seriously businessed, as per the Korea Times.
Since we last checked in on her, just before Christmas, activist private equity firm HYK Partners have banded together with a ton minor partners and created a snazzy new website. They don’t have an English version yet, but it’s coming, the site says. They want investors and input, neither of which are good for the Cho family.
To refresh, Korea Air is owned by Hanjin Transportation and Hanjin KAL, which is largely owned by the Cho family. All of HYK’s money comes from a textile company, Kyungbang. If their plan works, and it seems like it might, the textile company will basically run the airline. I wonder if their uniforms will be a little bit poison.
But for now Hanjin KAL, a holding company that used to be known as the Hanjin Group, is still the parent company. They have been on a downward spiral for a minute. We didn’t get into them last time, so let’s take a look.
Cho Hyun-Min, second from left, with her lawyers |@leeheehoon_journalism
Hanjin was founded in 1945, transporting goods between Korea and Vietnam. It branched into shipping and trucking and delivery and trains and, in 1969, the government’s airline. Since 2003, the Chairman has been Cho Won-tae.
While Cho Hyun-min and her sister Hyun-ah have been tagged as “rage heiresses” (Hyun-ah’s was about nuts), their brother Won-tae has a higher role at the company and a… perhaps notable academic history? Won-tae, who also goes by Walter, reportedly faked his credentials for college and, in 2018, 20 years after he left school, his degree was taken away. He went to a two year college in the US and the Korean Broadcasting System notes that “his grade point average was 1.67 with several Fs.” The same article notes that some of the company’s vendors also won contracts without bidding.
Hyun-min — who, like her brother, has held a truly bananas number of simultaneous jobs throughout the conglomerate — is reportedly going to try to join the company’s board this March, which is what some shareholders are looking to head off with HYK. She was, at least at one point, in danger of losing her Korean citizenship over the water throwing incident. All three are 3rd generation Hanjin employees.
Estimated net worth (originally from 12.20.2020): The family was at about $3.5 billion in 2016, according to Forbes.
“The Perth billionaire buying up a Mandurah canal-front street,” WAToday
“$2.6M English-style estate in Connecticut has a 50-foot underground swim tunnel leading to the pool,” 6sqft.com* (click this one for more pictures of house)
You know the old saying, if you want to buy property, get your grandpa mining. Dig dig, poppa, those acres aren’t going to buy themselves. It’s a real estate roundup!!!
Australia has more iron ore heiresses than Mad Max movies, or something similarly Australian, and Angela Bennett is apparently a reclusive one. She’s bought a bunch of property along a canal in Perth, including a new mansion with Versace doors for $1.675 million AUD ($1.28 million USD).
Angela once set a real estate record, having sold a mansion for $57.5 million in 2009 ($44.2 million USD). The details of this transaction seem worth noting, as it is an iron ore Who’s Who: She sold it to “fellow mining magnate” Chris Ellison, head of Mineral Resources. Her selling agent, Willie Porteous, was the husband of Rosie Porteous, the estranged widow of Lang Hancock, the iron ore miner who was also Gina Rinehart’s dad. Lang was partners with Angela’s dad, Peter Wright. The mansion had been on the market since 2007, and originally listed at $70 million, but Willie said that just how it works. (For a few exciting minutes, I read the 70 as $10 million and I thought I’d uncovered a crime in plain sight, but no.)
Of course, Angela’s family has been embroiled in will drama as well, with her brother Julian Wright suing her and their brother Michael’s estate, and yes it is about mining royalties. Are mining royalties worth fighting with your family? Many families say emphatically yes!
And one more for funs: A $2.6 million estate for sale in Weston, Connecticut once belonged to Alice DeLemar, who was once the richest woman in America and who kind of had a young Errol Flynn thing going (although hopefully with less sexual assault).
Alice DeLamar | Arnold Genthe via Wikimedia
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Alice financially backed the Civic Repertory Theatre, as she was lovers with its founder, Eva Le Gallienne. Eva’s Wikipedia lists like, a lot more lovers than Alice’s does, so hopefully that wasn’t a point of contention (and perhaps it was not!). Alice’s money came from her father, Joseph Raphael De Lamar, a gold miner who was born in Amsterdam but struck it rich in the American west.
Anyways, there’s probably a whole story there, but go back and look at the house, that’s what we all really want.
Stonebrook, in Weston, CT | 6sqft.com
Estimated net worth, Angela Bennett: $3.8 billion AUD according to Australian Financial Review ($2.9B USD), according to Wikipedia (I can’t get in that list!). And $1.6 billion USD as per Forbes.
Estimated net worth, Alice DeLamar: $4 million at the time of her death, according to Wikipedia, okay I got lazy here, I’m tired now.
From the rest of the Alert
I haven’t gotten a chance to watch Bling Empire yet, and frankly I am trying not to spoil myself, but Refinery 29 has a rundown of star/heiress Anna Shay, about whom a fellow cast member says, “Her money comes from weapons. Her father sells bombs, guns, defense technology. And it’s worth like a few billion.” Okay, I feel like this will come up again, maybe as soon as next week.
Today in “if your interests are like my interests,” the alert picked up a podcast about scams (!) from AARP (!!) cohosted by Catch Me If You Can’s Frank Abagnale (!!?) and the first episode is about an Irish scam heiress (!!!!!!). I’ve yet to listen but wow, way to appeal to this old-at-heart Irish scam lover.
Over in the Ecclezone (TM pending), Tamara Ecclestone continues to achieve beauty standards and lack financial woes. This week she’s on Insta (and therefore the ‘Mail) posing in a “chic” powder blue one-piece I honestly find kind of charming, hanging out in Dubai, sure, with her Cabbage-Patch-as-hell baby. I believe “chic” is the Daily Mail antonym for “revealing,” and the baby’s cheeks are perfect, no notes. DM compares her decision to take the trip to the cancelled trips of other British celebrities I’ve never heard, who say the relatively new Covid travel rules in the UK are upsettingly lax and too late. Seems true, other British celebs!!
One heiress we know got the vaccine (ahem, MENG) is Singaporean Kim Lim, who personally owns a healthcare company or something. Her father, Peter, is the son of a fishmonger; he reportedly made most of his money in stocks, and now owns two football clubs, one in Spain and one in England.
Kate Waterhouse, a “Australian fashionista and racing heiress,” apparently likes some $30 beach romper (US), reminding me that not only are things pretty chill right now in Australia virus-wise, it’s nice out there. As I write, it’s 77 degrees in Sydney. Goddamn it.
Happy for this opera singer who is getting money and credit for writing the eponymous movie about heiress Florence Foster Jenkins but that thing blew so hard, oh my god. I can’t remember why but I hated it, passionately; I vaguely recall it felt small and mean and sad. Her ex-boyfriend, who tried to box her out, previously worked on Midsomer Murders and “screenwriter steals an opera singer’s work about a batty old heiress” is such a motive Barnaby would discover I can hardly stand it.
While our FPB is low key this week — wearing athleisure that the Daily Mail calculates costs $6,759 AUD, or about $5,206 USD — her former publicist Roxy Jacenko lost yet another clientfriend. The Mail runs down her enemies list; it’s mostly rich women, but also Sydney Morning Herald gossip columnist and Heir Mail patron saint Andrew Hornery annnnnd her own father.