Chinese tech firm manager sacked after leaked payslip reveals his approximately Rs 5 crore salary

A man in China has been fired after his 4.5 crore salary became publicly known, according to a report by SCMP. Tencent Holdings dismissed the employee, identified only by his surname Ye, from its WeChat division after details of his multimillion-yuan bonus package leaked online, sparking widespread discussion on Chinese social media.

The employee was terminated for sharing sensitive internal information with parties outside the company, an action that resulted in a serious adverse impact both within and outside the organisation, according to an internal bulletin reportedly viewed by three Tencent staff members. Ye held the position of project manager within Tencent's Weixin Group, the division responsible for WeChat, China's widely used super-app with 1.3 billion users, as stated in the notice issued by the company's Anti-Corruption Investigation Department. Tencent had not responded to a request for comment as of Friday.

The termination followed the circulation of a screenshot on Chinese social media platforms detailing Ye's substantial annual compensation. The image, believed to have originated from an internal company system, showed that the manager's total pay package was valued at approximately 3.17 million yuan (Rs 4.52 crore), equivalent to around US$470,000. This included a cash bonus exceeding 820,000 yuan (Rs 1.17 crore) along with stock incentives worth more than 2.35 million yuan (Rs 3.35 crore).


Per the internal bulletin, Ye has been dismissed and permanently barred from being rehired by Tencent in the future. The company is expected to issue a formal notice later outlining the disciplinary action being taken against him for violating standards of executive conduct.

Tencent has been strengthening its internal compliance efforts in recent years. In an annual report published in January, the Shenzhen-headquartered firm revealed that its anti-corruption division had identified more than 70 compliance breaches through 2025. These investigations led to the dismissal of over 90 employees, with more than 20 cases referred to law enforcement authorities for criminal prosecution. Tencent's internal compliance policies bar employees from disclosing sensitive corporate information, including trade secrets, internal communications, unreleased source code, and employee records.

Disclaimer: This report is based on information originally published by SCMP. ET.com takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the content and has not independently verified or authenticated the claims made in the original report.