The developing feud was further fuelled when Lee Jae-yong's father became chairman and divided up the empire in 1976: his uncle's side of the family was given what could be a considered a less powerful part of the business. And so, 40 years later, Lee Jae-yong and his father were facing a legal claim which might have forced them to return shares worth hundreds of millions of dollars to his uncle. A successful lawsuit would force the unwinding of the empire, and threaten the plan for Lee Jae-yong to take over.