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The Straits Times, on 25 March 2009, reported that Singapore-listed company Capital Land had rewarded its president and chief executive with a S$20.52 million bonus in 2007. Mr Liew Mun Leong, “a civil engineer who spent 22 years as a civil servant before taking the corporate world by storm”, was rewarded “for helping the property developer achieve a record profit of S$2.76 billion that year”.
The bonus is believed to be a record for any executive at a Singapore listed company.
The Straits Times quoted Mr Liew, who held a press conference at Capital Tower on Tuesday, as having said:
“Although the sum is the highest, it is accrued… so it’s put into a bank account and you are only allowed to take one-third out. If you ask if it’s the highest, if you take one-third out, then it’s not.”
Mr Liew’s base pay was $1.15 million in 2007 and $1.19 million in 2008.
For 2008, his bonus was a much smaller $2.98 million.
What’re your thoughts on the $20.52 million bonus paid out to Mr Liew in 2007?