The news that the chairman of Beike’s board of directors with an annual salary of 7.13 billion yuan has caught public attention and sparked discussion. In 2024, Beike’s net profit attributable to the parent company decreased by 30.19% compared to the previous year.
According to a report from “Southern Metropolis Daily” on April 22, the news of “Beike executives with a 7-billion-yuan annual salary” has recently stirred up a debate. The total compensation of Beike’s chairman of the board and CEO, Peng Yongdong, increased from 8.478 million yuan in 2021 to 475 million yuan in 2022, and then surged to 7.13 billion yuan in 2023. In 2023, Peng Yongdong’s compensation was approximately 8674 times the average annual salary of his brokers.
In 2022, Beike suffered a loss of 1.386 billion yuan, while Peng Yongdong’s salary jumped from over 8 million to over 400 million.
Not only Peng Yongdong with a multi-billion annual salary, as reported by BT Finance on April 23, Beike’s co-founder Sun Yigang also had a high salary of 5.29 billion yuan. In 2021, the two had annual salaries of 8.47 million yuan and 6.85 million yuan, respectively, which have increased by 83 times and 77 times to date.
“Southern Metropolis Daily” pointed out that from 2021 when Peng Yongdong took over until 2024, Beike’s total net profit was 8.057 billion yuan, but the total annual salary of Peng Yongdong and Sun Yigang, the two executives, reached 29.2331 billion yuan in these four years.
The article analyzed that Peng Yongdong’s ability to reach the “yearly salary peak” has special reasons and is somewhat typical. After the sudden death of the former head of the company, Zuo Hui, executives gave themselves crazy raises with no resistance. Of course, there may not be legal issues with executives taking more money, as there are no clear standards set by the law on how much executives should receive. However, the sky-high annual salary event of Beike’s executives has exposed deep-rooted problems in internal corporate management. It is suggested that in the current Beike led by the chairman of the board, equity incentives may have turned into tools for executives to cash out.
According to the latest financial report, Beike’s revenue in 2024 was 93.46 billion yuan, an increase of 20.16% compared to 77.78 billion yuan in 2023. However, the full-year net profit attributable to the parent company was 4.065 billion yuan, a decrease of 30.19% compared to the previous year’s 5.883 billion yuan.
As of the close on April 17, Beike’s U.S. stock closing price was $19.03, a 1.7% decrease. Since its high of $78.518 in 2020, it has fallen by 76%, evaporating $71.8 billion in market value, and the current market value is $22.97 billion. The once near-hundred-billion-dollar industry unicorn saw a sharp decline in market value after the death of its founder, Zuo Hui.
Netizens have expressed their opinions on this matter. “Intelligence” said, “Companies have become tools for executives to grab money. Even if the company goes bankrupt, they won’t lose out.” “Niu Niu” also commented, “Evergrande is bankrupt and heavily in debt, but the executives are all millionaires!” “L I V E” sighed, “With more than four hundred thousand brokers with no basic salary or social security at Beike, it’s truly ironic.”
Public information shows that Beike originated from Lianjia, but it differs from Lianjia’s vertically integrated business model. Beike functions as a platform, sharing real estate information and incorporating Lianjia’s management model. It attracts agents and brokerages to join. Beike positions itself as a technology-driven quality residential service platform and timely introduced VR house viewing, with VR viewing, VR lectures, and VR tours as its three main VR core functions.
On August 13, 2020, Beike listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and on May 11, 2022, it officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
As of 11:30:00 Beijing time on April 23, Beike’s stock price in the Hong Kong stock market was reported at 54.650 Hong Kong dollars per share, with a total market value of 191.2 billion Hong Kong dollars.