SINGAPORE, Sept 12 — Six grandchildren of late Singapore tycoon Goh Cheng Liang, including a New York academic and a Bali charity founder, have each inherited billion-dollar stakes in his paint empire after the 98-year-old billionaire’s death last month.

Each heir has inherited stakes in a publicly traded firm worth more than US$1 billion (RM4.2 billion), marking a rare generational skip in Asian wealth transfers, Bloomberg reported.

Goh founded Nippon Paint South East Asia, or Nipsea, which runs the largest paint-making operations in the Asia Pacific region.

Filings show that in December, Wuthelam Holdings Pte, the family’s investment company, transferred a 55 per cent stake in Tokyo-listed Nippon Paint Holdings Co. to six of Goh’s eight grandchildren.

The stake makes each of them holders in Nipsea International Ltd, with ownership valued at more than US$1 billion each, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Goh’s eldest son, Hup Jin, retained about 91 per cent of voting rights in Nipsea International, giving him control over the family’s stake in Nippon Paint Holdings.

The filings did not show any shares under Goh’s other son, Chuen Jin, or daughter, Chiat Jin.

The structure highlights a succession plan that spreads wealth to the third generation while keeping decision-making power with Hup Jin, a move rarely seen in Asian dynasties.

According to Ethan Chue, CEO of Family Succession Advisors, Asian families are less likely than Western ones to pass assets during their lifetimes, though some do transfer wealth to grandchildren in special cases.

A spokesperson for the Goh family declined to comment on the stake distribution, and Nippon Paint Holdings said the family would not give media interviews on the matter.

Among the heirs, April Goh, daughter of Chuen Jin, received the largest stake, valued at about US$3.4 billion.

April, a Columbia University fellow in New York focusing on gender-based violence, is also holding assets for two of her siblings, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Another heir, Charlotte Goh, co-founded a Bali foundation providing scholarships, tutoring, health care and counselling, and she and her sisters each received stakes worth about US$1.1 billion.

Goh’s grandson Martin Yuen-An Lavoo, co-founder of the Temasek-backed startup Sustenir Agriculture, is the only third-generation family member listed as a director of Nipsea International.