In perhaps a symbolic but rather puzzling move, the benefits offered by the bank included a company car, medical coverage and other claimable benefits.

Teh, who passed away last Dec 12 at 92, founded Malaysia’s third-largest banking group in 1965 when he was just 35 years old. In 2002, he relinquished his CEO position and was redesignated as a non-executive chairman.

He retired as the non-executive chairman by end-2018 but remained as a non-executive director. He had been receiving RM20 million in remuneration annually since 2019, when he was conferred the twin titles of chairman emeritus and adviser.

The bank’s Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday revealed that although the resolution was passed, there was significant opposition among the shareholders.

The filing noted that 1,931 shareholders voted for the resolution, representing 75% of total votes, while 1,178 shareholders holding 25% of the votes opposed it. However, based on the number of shareholders who voted, 38% voted against the proposal to pay Teh the RM20 million.

It was also the resolution with the highest number of shareholders voting against it during Monday’s AGM, compared with the other five resolutions which garnered “no” votes of between 274 and 379.

Teh, who controlled 23% of Public Bank prior to his passing, was married to Tay Sock Boy and they have four children. Last year, he was ranked 4th on the Forbes list of richest men in Malaysia with a fortune worth US$5.7 billion (RM26 billion).