Wee Cho Yaw’s heirs get access to his US$10 billion estate in UOB, UOL stakes
The estate transferred control over the lender and the family’s real estate arm UOL over several months
THE estate of Wee Cho Yaw, the late patriarch of UOB, has transferred control of the remaining shares that it held to his heirs, concluding one of Singapore’s biggest wealth transfers in decades.
The estate has relinquished control over the lender and the family’s real estate arm UOL Group, Singapore’s largest listed developer, according to filings on Wednesday (Mar 5).
The transfers at UOB for all the shares that used to be reported under his name – worth about US$9 billion – happened over several months, according to filings. At UOL, his estate’s direct and indirect control over 38 per cent of the company, worth about US$1.4 billion, has also ended.
The Wee family is Singapore’s richest banking dynasty, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Wee’s eldest son, Wee Ee Cheong, is chief executive officer of UOB, South-east Asia’s third-largest bank. At the time of his passing in February last year, the late Wee Cho Yaw chaired six companies, including UOL and Tiger Balm-maker Haw Par Corp.
The family’s holding companies, including CY Wee & Co, are now wholly owned by Wee Cho Yaw’s wife, three sons and two daughters, though it is unclear from the filings how the shares in UOB and UOL held by his estate have been distributed among the family members.
A spokesperson for UOB declined to comment on the Wee estate’s share transfer.
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Wee Cho Yaw, one of the most famous names in Singapore’s banking industry, passed away at the age of 95 on Feb 3, 2024.
The banking titan played a pivotal role in the growth of the UOB banking empire founded by his father Wee Kheng Chiang in 1935.
During his term as UOB’s group chairman and chief executive, the bank’s network expanded from 75 to more than 500 branches and offices globally.
He took over the reins of the bank, then known as United Chinese Bank, in 1960 – two years after he became the youngest director on the board.
As managing director of UOB, Wee Cho Yaw helmed a series of acquisitions of rival banks, including Chung Khiaw Bank in 1971. His most high-profile deal was when he acquired Overseas Union Bank in 2001, beating rival DBS in a takeover battle. BLOOMBERG
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