The CEO of gaming and hospitality powerhouse Genting Group has emerged as Malaysia’s highest paid executive of 2018, according to a recently released report by the Malaysian Securities Commission
Last year, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay earned nearly MYR250 million (approximately $60.2 million) from two listed companies owned by Genting Group. Mr. Lim received remuneration of MYR168 million for serving as CEO of Genting Bhd and of MYR80.61 million for his role as CEO of Genting Malaysia Bhd, according to the Corporate Government Monitor 2019 published by the Securities Commission earlier this week.
The CG Monitor 2019 took into consideration the remuneration packages of Chief Executives of the top 100 companies listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. The ranking was based on the market capitalization of the companies at December 31, 2018.
The overall market capitalization of those 100 companies amounted to MYR1.44 trillion and represented around 80% of Malaysia’s entire equity market capitalization, according to the CG Monitor 2019 report.
A CEO’s total remuneration includes salary, bonus, benefits, and other emoluments an executive receives over the course of a year.
Income Disparity Debate
The CG Monitor 2019 report is likely to rekindle the income disparity debate in Malaysia. According to a study by the Khazanah Research Institute, the earnings gap between the country’s richest and the rest of its population has nearly doubled in recent years.
Malaysia Prime Minister Tun Mahathir bin Mohamad addressed the issue back in March, saying that it was not fair that top management’s remuneration has kept rising, while workers’ wages have remained stagnant or have increased only marginally. In a keynote address at this year’s InvestMalaysia, Dr. Mahathir went on to say that they did not want a “thoroughly unequal society where capital owners take too much a chunk of national income, leaving the workers or low-income households with scraps.”
Genting is the operator of Malaysia’s only legal land-based casino. The gaming facility is part of the larger Resorts World Genting integrated resort, located on the peak of Mount Ulu Kali just outside the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The company has had a bit of a shaky performance on the market over the past year. An increased tax rate for the provision of gambling services in Malaysia as well as two expensive lawsuits hit the company’s stock price significantly.
Genting sued Disney and Fox over a theme park it planned to add to its existing offering at Resorts World Genting. The casino operator had previously entered an agreement with Fox to use the latter’s branding for its new attraction. However, Fox walked out of the deal at a later point. Genting now seeks damages for the losses it suffered due to Fox’s decision to abandon the theme park scheme.
The Malaysian casino operator also got in legal trouble over the design of its Resorts World Las Vegas resort. Fellow casino company Wynn Resorts sued Genting, claiming that the latter has copied the design of its iconic Strip properties – Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, onto its new property. The resorts are located across the street from where Genting is currently building its own luxury complex. The two companies eventually settled the matter off the court floor.
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