FROM EXPENSIVE EXITS TO BAD BEHAVIOUR, THE
In our fortnightly round-up on billionaires, the WhatsApp chief quits and a wealthy daughter lashes out
JAN KOUM
Jan Koum’s exit from Facebook could cost him as much as $1 billion.
The chief executive of messaging unit WhatsApp confirmed in a Facebook post last Monday that he is leaving the company. The announcement precedes the final three vesting dates of restricted stock awards tied to Facebook’s $22bn purchase of WhatsApp in 2014.
“It is time for me to move on,” Mr Koum, 42, said in the post. “I’m taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate Frisbee.”
Mr Koum got about 24.9 million restricted shares as part of the deal, most of which has already vested. Of those remaining, 1.9 million are due to vest in mid-May and mid-August, respectively, plus a final tranche of 2.1 million in November.
The awards are contingent on him being employed through those dates. He would forfeit 5.8 million shares – worth $997.5 million as of last Monday’s close – if he leaves before May 15, unless his exit is categorised as an involuntary termination or resignation for good reason, regulatory filings show.
The precise circumstances of his departure are not clear. Mr Koum will not stand for re-election to the board at Facebook’s May 31 annual meeting, the company said in a filing. A spokeswoman for the Menlo Park, California-based firm declined to say when Mr Koum’s departure takes effect.
Mr Koum clashed with other executives over strategy, the Washington Post reported last week. Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp with him, announced his departure from Facebook last year. In March, Mr Acton posted the #DeleteFacebook hashtag amid outrage over the social network’s data-privacy lapses.
Even if he leaves some money on the table, Mr Koum has still amassed a $10.4bn fortune, having sold $8bn of Facebook stock since 2015, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. He is number 136 on the list.
CHO HYUN-MIN
The stony-faced daughter of a Korean billionaire, whose older sister was brought low by the “nut rage” scandal, apologised last Tuesday as she reported to police for questioning over allegations she sprayed a business associate in the face with fruit juice.
“I’m really sorry for causing concern,” Cho Hyun-min repeatedly told a crowd of journalists outside the Gangseo police station in Seoul, without admitting to any specific actions.
Ms Cho, who police said is accused of using violence and obstructing business, is the daughter of Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho.
Mr Hanjin is among the country’s 15 biggest business groups, owner of flag carrier Korean Air, logistics and transport firms, and with interests in information technology and hotels.
It used to own Hanjin Shipping, once one of the world’s biggest shipping firms, which was declared bankrupt last year.
The younger daughter’s police interrogation is only the controlling family’s latest brush with the law, with a series of scandals making them some of the country’s most notorious super-wealthy.
South Korea’s economy - the world’s 11th-largest - is dominated by a series of giant business conglomerates known as chaebols.
In the past, the chaebols contributed to the country’s fast economic growth, but as the founders’ sons and grandsons took over they expanded into every corner of business, and now stand accused of suffocating smaller companies and hampering innovation.
Many chaebol families retain only a small ownership stake in their companies, but maintain control through complex webs of cross-shareholdings, and rapid promotions for family members – some of whose antics have battered the firms’ images.
“The Cho family is one of the most vilified chaebol families, with multiple family members implicated in alleged bad behaviour,” said Chung Sun-sup of online information service chaebol.com
In the most infamous incident, the chairman’s elder daughter Cho Hyun-ah made global headlines in 2014 for forcing two flight attendants to kneel and beg for forgiveness after she was served macadamia nuts in a bag rather than a bowl.
She ordered the Seoul-bound flight back to the gate so one of them could be ejected in an incident quickly dubbed “nut rage”.
SHAHID KHAN
Wembley is one of London’s most iconic venues. The aspiring owner of the soccer stadium considers it “the cradle of English football”. Lawmakers agree it is a sacred cow and they are not sure it should be sold.
An influential parliamentary committee – the same one giving Facebook a hard time – is meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to launch an investigation into Shahid Khan’s £600m (Dh2.98bn) bid for the home of the English national soccer team and also the site for many a pop concert and sporting event.
The Pakistani-American billionaire is trying to buy Wembley from the Football Association, but his interest has run into all sorts of opposition about giving away the country’s crown jewels at a time when preserving brands in the age of Brexit has become politically key.
Unilever, for example, one of the UK’s best-known corporate giants and maker of Marmite, has picked Rotterdam over London for its new headquarters.
Damian Collins – the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports committee – plans to discuss the sale with members at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the situation who declined to be named because the matter is private.
“Wembley is a national icon we need to keep for the people of this country,” said Justin