Before the Chen family feud erupted onto the front pages of Hong Kong's newspapers two years ago, patriarch Chen Din-hwa and his kin were best known for being little known.
Chen, one of the Hong Kong's wealthiest men who died at the weekend aged 89, rarely gave interviews and was seldom seen in public despite his privately run property empire Nan Fung Group being one of the city's major players. In a typically low-key announcement, granddaughter Karen Cheung said Chen had passed away after a long illness.
With his demise, the Chen family is again in the media spotlight as the on-going legal dispute over the distribution of his assets and the fate of the development firm becomes more uncertain.
The ugly family fight surfaced in December 2010 when his wife, Yang Foo-oi, now 87, siding with elder daughter Angela, sued younger daughter Vivien, now the group's chairwoman and managing director, alleging she had been misled into transferring assets.
Chen was declared mentally incapacitated by a court in 2008 and Ma Mo-leung of Mazars CPA was appointed administrator of the billionaire's estate and affairs.
'Chen was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1995 and his wife saw his mental health and memory rapidly decline. She feared his assets and empire would be taken by people other than family members,' said a source close to the family.