Billionaire Lutnick Sued Over $50 Million Newmark Group Bonus

Howard Lutnick and other senior leaders at Newmark Group Inc.—which the billionaire controls through Cantor Fitzgerald LP—are facing litigation challenging nearly $200 million in bonus and buybacks payments related to the 2013 sale of trading platform eSpeed to Nasdaq Inc.

The lawsuit, made public Thursday in Delaware’s Chancery Court, names Newmark’s CEO, chief financial officer, and chief legal officer as defendants, along with the company’s three-member compensation committee. It targets partnership unit buybacks worth $146 million and a $50 million cash bonus for Lutnick, Newmark’s chairman, all stemming from the eSpeed deal years earlier.

The bonus and buybacks “constituted corporate ...