More than HK$20 million in salaries were paid to seven museum executives at West Kowloon Cultural District last year despite the hub’s chronic deficit, the government has revealed.
M+ Museum. Photo: Peter Lee/HKFP
Rosanna Law, the culture, sports and tourism minister, told lawmakers on Wednesday that seven executives of M+ Museum and Hong Kong Palace Museum earned a total of HK$20.9 million in the 2025-26 financial year.
Expenditure on renumeration has also gone up every year since the 2021-22 financial year, the earliest year Law provided data for, except for one year when there was a temporary vacancy.
The increases ranged between 0.8 per cent and 8.5 per cent year on year, figures showed.
Both M+ Museum and Hong Kong Palace Museum are managed by the cash-strapped West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA).
According to figures provided by the minister, three executives of Hong Kong Palace Museum, including a museum director; a deputy director; and a deputy director and chief curator were paid a total of HK$9.4 million in the 2025-26 financial year.
This means each executive earned an average of more than HK$260,000 per month.
Hong Kong’s Palace Museum. Photo: Lea Mok/HKFP.
Meanwhile, four executives of the M+ Museum, including one director; one artistic director and chief curator; one director; and one deputy director earned a total of $11.4 million in 2025-26.
The figure is a 3.6 per cent increase compared to the previous financial year.
“When determining the pay adjustment, the WKCDA takes into account multiple factors, including Hong Kong’s market pay and economic conditions, the staff turnover rate and financial position of the Authority, and the work performances and existing pay positions of the executives,” Law said.
According to the WKCDA’s annual report, senior executives of the Authority – including the CEO, deputy CEO, and CFO – earned a total remuneration of nearly HK$40 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
CEO Betty Fung earned an annual salary of HK$6.59 million.
Cash-strapped art hub
WKCDA has recorded a deficit since the 2019-20 financial year.
Figures provided by Law showed that the art hub recorded a deficit of HK$466.2 million in the 2025-26 financial year. The loss is 6 per cent less than its deficit in the previous financial year.
People on the promenade of the West Kowloon Cultural District on July 1, 2023. Photo: Irene Chan/HKFP.
Henry Tang, chairperson of the authority, said in September last year that the deficit was partly due to the high operating costs associated with displaying exhibits from mainland China and overseas, which require steep insurance and logistics fees.
Hong Kong does not have enough homegrown arts and cultural exhibits, he added.
The government recommended last year that the WKCDA raise funds through residential development once the property market recovers.
In February, the art hub signed a HK$3 billion loan with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) to shore up its finances.