The infamous “Nut Rage Heiress” of Korean Air was defeated in battle for Korean Air
For context, on December 5, 2014, Heather Cho (Cho Hyun-ah), Korean Air’s Vice President at the time, forced a flight from New York JFK to Seoul to return to the gate because she was improperly served nuts. The macadamia nuts were served to her in a bag, but she believed they were supposed to be served in a dish. However, serving nuts in the sealed bag was Korean Air’s standard procedure.
So, Heather Cho caused the Korean Air flight to be delayed by around 20 minutes. After this was revealed to the public, she was heavily criticized and eventually resigned from her position.
This situation was taken to a South Korean court and Heather Cho was found guilty of violating aviation law, so she served 5 months in prison.
This is known as the “nut rage incident”.
Now, years later, Heather Cho along with an activist investment fund, the Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI), wanted to remove her younger brother, Walter Cho (Cho Won-tae), from the chairmanship of Hanjin KAL.
Korean Air’s parent company is the Hanjin KAL Corporation, which is owned by Water Cho.
However, Walter Cho won the battle as shareholders voted in favor of him with 56.7%. He was backed up by groups and people such as Delta Air Lines with a 10% stake, his mother Lee Myung-hee with 5.31%, and his younger sister Cho Hyun-min with 6.47%.
However, the KCGI alliance will continue to challenge the chairman as they have been buying company shares even after the the general meeting closed.
Sources/Images
Sources:
Hanjin KAL chairman survives challenge from 'nut rage' sister - Nikkei Asia
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/korean-air-chief-defeats-nut-rage-sister-s-challenge-12583126
Additional images by Korean Air.
Korean Air macadamia nuts by Onemileatatime.
Some pretty crazy family battles for control of a company…