The princess, the secret children, and the $2 billion Wahaha battle

Kelly Zong spent her whole life being told she was the one. The only daughter. The heiress. The Princess of Wahaha. When her father died in February 2024, leaving behind one of China's most iconic consumer brands, she stepped into the chairwoman's seat without a visible fight. The handoff looked clean. It wasn't.

Three strangers had other plans — and they came with trust fund receipts.

The empire her father built

Zong Qinghou started late by any conventional measure. He was already in his 40s when, in 1987, he convinced the Hangzhou city government to let him manage a struggling school enterprise. What he built from that modest mandate was Wahaha — China's most recognized soft drinks company, the maker of a milky nutrition drink that became a household staple before most of the country had ever heard of Red Bull.

Bottled water followed. Tea followed. Juices, energy drinks, dairy. By the time Zong was done, Wahaha products were on shelves in every city, every tier, every supermarket in China. At his peak, Zong Qinghou was the richest man in the entire country. The company he built was eventually worth several billion dollars, with the majority stake controlled by Hangzhou's city-level state assets bureau — making it simultaneously a family business and a quasi-public institution.

When Zong died in February 2024 at 79, he left behind what appeared to be a straightforward succession. Kelly Zong — known publicly as Zong Fuli — was installed as chairwoman. The Princess had her throne.

Kelly Zong and her father Zong Qinghou at a gala event. She spent her adult life being groomed as his successor — the only child of the man who built China's most famous beverage empire. (Photo: supplied)

Three siblings she never knew existed

Then came Jacky, Jessie, and Jerry Zong.

In 2024, three individuals emerged publicly claiming to be Zong Qinghou's children from extramarital relationships. Not a rumor. Not a whisper campaign. A lawsuit, filed in Hangzhou, with account numbers attached.

Their claim: their father had secretly arranged for them. Before he died, according to their legal filings, Zong instructed aides to set up three trusts at HSBC in Hong Kong — one for each of them, each worth $700 million, totaling $2.1 billion. When the trusts were funded, the balance came in at approximately $1.8 billion.

That $1.8 billion was sitting in an HSBC account in Hong Kong. They wanted it frozen. And they wanted Kelly kept away from it.

Their specific concern: Kelly had already withdrawn $1.1 million from the account. They feared she would drain the rest.

The injunction

The Hangzhou court moved. Orders were issued barring Kelly from the account. She was also required to disclose transaction details — what had gone in, what had come out, and when.

Kelly's legal team denied knowledge of any instructions to fund the trusts. They argued there was no evidence the transfers had been authorized. They challenged the currency conversion claims embedded in the filings. And Kelly appealed.

As of mid-2025, the Hong Kong court had issued its own injunction and required disclosure. Kelly was still appealing those orders. Bloomberg reported the proceedings in July 2025; Chinese media covered it extensively. The appeals were ongoing as of August 2025.

The throne changes hands

In early 2025, less than a year after taking over her father's company, Kelly Zong stepped down as chairwoman and legal representative of Wahaha Group. She was replaced by Xu Simin, who had previously headed the legal department at an associated company.

Kelly retains her 29% stake. She hasn't been bought out or expelled. But she no longer runs the thing. The company her father built — the thing she spent her adult life preparing to lead, the identity she wore publicly for decades — is now operated by someone else.

Wahaha's official comment on all of it: "This is a family matter unrelated to the company's operations."

What Zong apparently left behind

If the claims of Jacky, Jessie, and Jerry Zong are accurate, then the picture that emerges is of a man who quietly constructed parallel families — and parallel financial arrangements — for years. Three $700 million trusts don't get set up accidentally. HSBC accounts holding $1.8 billion don't materialize without deliberate instruction.

What remains unclear is whether those instructions were ever fully executed. Kelly's legal argument hinges on that gap: that whatever Zong intended, the transfers were not authorized in any legally binding way. The claimants argue the opposite. Both sides are waiting on courts in two jurisdictions to decide.

Kelly Zong photographed with her family. Despite stepping down as chairwoman, she retains a 29% stake in Wahaha and remains a central figure in the ongoing legal battle. (Photo: supplied / Weibo)

The Princess is still in the fight

Kelly Zong has not gone away. She has 29% of one of China's most famous consumer brands. She has lawyers in multiple jurisdictions. And she has an identity built around this company — a name that is literally her father's name, a career shaped by his vision, a public profile inseparable from Wahaha.

The three claimants — if their parentage is proven — have their own claim to that name. And their own father's apparent wish, encoded in three HSBC trust documents worth $700 million each, that they be taken care of.

Zong Qinghou, by most accounts, believed he had arranged for everyone. What he may not have arranged for was what happens when the arrangements become a courtroom.

The case is ongoing. The appeals are pending. The $1.8 billion account sits under injunction.

The Princess of Wahaha is fighting. She just no longer controls the castle.