In February 2025, one of Singapore's richest families went to war in public when City Developments Limited executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng accused his son and CEO Sherman Kwek of orchestrating a boardroom coup, filing court papers to oust him before dropping the lawsuit two weeks later in an uneasy truce.
On 26 February 2025, the elder Kwek, ranked among Singapore's richest billionaires, issued a bombshell statement accusing Sherman of pushing through the appointment of two new independent directors, Jennifer Duong Young and Wong Su-Yen, without full board approval, despite a written resolution formalising their appointments. He alleged his son had restructured board committees and the governance framework to bypass the nomination committee. Kwek Leng Beng said he had sought to remove his son as CEO on 8 February and had filed court papers seeking to restore corporate integrity, declaring his intention to replace the CEO at the appropriate time over poor investment decisions.
The eruption came shortly after CDL reported a 37 per cent drop in net profit to S$201.3 million for 2024. Trading in CDL shares was temporarily halted, and analysts at JP Morgan and OCBC downgraded the stock on governance uncertainty. The feud made global headlines, denting the reputation of one of Singapore's largest property developers.
Sherman hit back, expressing disappointment at his father's extreme actions and pinning the blame on Catherine Wu, a long-time adviser to his father on the board of CDL's hotel unit Millennium & Copthorne. Sherman said Wu had been interfering in matters well beyond her scope and wielded enormous influence; directors proposed terminating her advisory agreement. Wu resigned from her unpaid role on 5 March 2025, with the elder Kwek declaring the governance allegations now had no basis.
On 12 March 2025, Kwek Leng Beng discontinued the lawsuit. Both father and son kept their roles, and all directors, including the two disputed appointees, remained on the board. All board members agreed to put aside their differences for the greater good of CDL and its stakeholders, though analysts cautioned the underlying governance issues were unresolved.
The price of the feud showed in the annual report: Kwek Leng Beng's 2024 remuneration fell 13.6 per cent to S$5.97 million, while Sherman's dropped 15.4 per cent to S$2.97 million, with Sherman forgoing a S$1.35 million long-term incentive grant. The saga remains the most dramatic family feud in Singapore corporate history, a reminder that even the grandest business empires are not immune to succession warfare.