When the case was first filed in 2012, Leiman’s restricted shares and share options were worth about US$59 million, Bloomberg reported at the time. By the time Noble’s Singapore-listed stock was suspended in 2018, its value had fallen by 99%.
The settlement is a similar size to a roughly $20 million package former co-CEO Jeff Frase received on leaving in 2017, even as Noble slumped to a loss of almost US$5 billion.
Leiman declined to comment on the terms of the settlement, saying only that he had no outstanding legal cases against Noble. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
Smaller Company
While Noble’s market value once exceeded US$10 billion, it has become a shadow of its former self following a restructuring in 2018 that handed control to its creditors. The US$20 million payment to Leiman is equal to about 70% of the company’s entire staff bill for the first half of this year, when “human capital costs” totaled US$28 million.
Noble’s presentation showed the US$20 million payment as a cash outflow during the first half of this year related to the settlement of a legal case involving a former CEO. The size of the payment hadn’t previously been disclosed.
Read Also: Former Noble CEO wins appeal in Singapore's top court over shares
