Catherine Wu, adviser at center of boardroom dispute between Singapore's 4th richest billionaire Kwek Leng Beng and son, resigns from CDL subsidiary

By Minh Hieu March 4, 2025 | 07:09 pm PT

Kwek Leng Beng (R), City Developments Limited's executive chairman, and his long-time adviser, Catherine Wu, at the GEEKCON 2024 International. Photo from GEEKCON's website

Catherine Wu, long-time adviser to Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng said to be the reason behind the tycoon’s feud with his son Sherman Kwek, has resigned from her role at City Developments Limited’s subsidiary.

Leng Beng, CDL’s 84-year-old executive chairman, said the firm’s hotel arm, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, has accepted Dr. Wu’s resignation from her position as an unpaid independent adviser with immediate effect, according to a late Tuesday press release cited by The Straits Times. She has held the role since August 2024.

The chairman last week took legal action against his son, CDL’s group CEO, along with several board members over alleged governance lapses and what he described as an "attempted coup" to consolidate control of the company’s board.

Sherman attributed the dispute to Wu, claiming that she had exerted significant influence and interfered in matters beyond her role. He noted that attempts to resolve the issue discreetly failed due to her longstanding relationship with his father.

In the Tuesday statement, Leng Beng said Sherman and his group no longer have any grounds to continue making corporate governance allegations against CDL or to justify the "board coup" now that Wu has resigned.

"It is high time that we restore investor confidence and ensure those breaches of corporate governance committed by the CEO and his team of directors, including breaches of the SGX (Singapore Exchange) listing rules and the Code of Corporate Governance, will never happen again," he said.

He noted that the focus should now be on the challenges CDL faces under his son’s leadership, including the Sincere Property misstep, which led to an extraordinary loss of S$1.9 billion (US$1.4 billion) in 2020; poor investment choices in the UK market, which resulted in substantial financial setbacks; and CDL’s weak share price, which has "persistently lagged behind its peers."

The ongoing boardroom feud and alleged breaches of listing rules have driven the shares down even further, he added.

CDL shares plunged to a 16-year low on Monday as trading resumed following a three-day halt. Although the stock later trimmed some losses, it ceded its position as Singapore’s largest listed property developer to its closest rival, UOL.

The firm’s market capitalization ended the session at S$4.47 billion (US$3.3 billion), down from S$4.57 billion before trading was suspended on Feb. 26.

A hearing has been scheduled for Apr. 11 to review evidence from both sides, as reported by The Business Times.

Leng Beng, CDL, and several directors siding with him are represented by lawyers from LVM Law Chambers, a firm headed by Senior Counsel Lok Vi Ming.

Sherman and his group are represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh and his firm, Davinder Singh Chambers, along with a team from Lee & Lee, one of the city-state’s oldest law firms.

Leng Beng and his family share a combined net worth of US$11.5 billion, making him the fourth richest billionaire in Singapore, according to a ranking list by Forbes last September.