Why This Chinese Internet Giant's Top Execs Took A Deep Pay Cut In 2021

Chinese technology, media and entertainment conglomerate Tencent Holdings Limited TCEHY is among the high-profile companies in the country to face regulatory scrutiny that gathered momentum in early 2021.

Tencent shares traded over the counter in the U.S. peaked at $99.40 in mid-February 2021 and have lost about 53% since then. Along with the contraction in stock price, executive pay at the company has also shrunk.

Top Executive Compensation Slashed: Pony Ma, founder of Tencent, earned 44.1 million yuan ($6.93 million) in 2021, down 25% from the previous year, Bloomberg reported, citing the company's annual report. Even with the pay cut, Ma is ranked 31st in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth of $39.1 billion.

President Martin Lau received 323 million yuan in compensation, 24% lower than in 2021. His bonus shrank by 32% to 23 million yuan.

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2 Unnamed Executives Reap Windfall: Two executives, however, received higher pay than the founder, directors as well as most senior executives. The company did not reveal the names of the two executives in the annual report.

These two highest-paid executives received about $204 million and $203 million, Bloomberg said.

The Bloomberg report also said the two could Allen Zhang, the founder of the WeChat messaging service, and Mark Ren, who oversees the company's gaming business.

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Photo courtesy of Tencent.