Tencent cuts compensation for CEO Ma, president Lau in 2021

[HONG KONG] Tencent Holdings cut the bonuses and overall compensation for its top 2 executives for 2021, a year in which the Internet giant navigated Beijing's crackdown on the private sector and saw its share price tumble.

President Martin Lau's total pay dropped 24 per cent to 323 million yuan (S$69.2 million) from 427.7 million the year before, including a 32 per cent decline in his bonus to 23 million yuan, according to the company's annual report.

Pony Ma, founder and chief executive officer, was paid a total of 44.1 million yuan, down 25 per cent from the year before. Ma holds more than 7 per cent of the company's stock, giving him a net worth of about US$39 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tencent is among the technology giants that came under fire from China's regulators last year, as the government led a sweeping crackdown on what it deemed monopolistic practices and services contrary to Communist Party priorities. Beijing restricted the amount of time children could play online games and imposed new restrictions on online education, both critical to Tencent's operations.

Tencent's shares dropped 19 per cent during 2021, while rival Alibaba Group tumbled 49 per cent. Tencent's stock has dropped another 16 per cent through Thursday.

The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tencent is increasing pay for some people. Employee benefits expenses - which include wages, bonuses, share awards and medical costs - leapt 37 per cent to 95.5 billion yuan in 2021.

In the annual report, the company disclosed that the highest-paid individuals at the company are not among the directors or senior executives. Two people made about HK$1.6 billion (S$278.2 million) each. BLOOMBERG