The award was actually worth $891 million at the IPO price, nearly half the amount JD.com and some of its shareholders raised in the biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese company.

It was granted "in consideration of his past and future services", according to the prospectus.

JD.com is the second mainland company to lavish its senior executives with major share-based bonuses ahead of a stock market flotation in the past month.

The deal was priced at $19 per American Depositary Share (ADS), above the $16 to $18 per share marketing range for the IPO. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares.

Billionaire Liu was awarded 93.78 million immediately vesting restricted share units, equivalent to half the number of ADSs in the JD.com IPO.

The company itself offered about 69 million ADSs while shareholders, including hedge fund Tiger Global Management and Russian Internet investment group Digital Sky Technologies, sold another 24.68 million ADSs.

The JD.com special compensation follows a similar payment to two senior executives of China's biggest pork producer WH Group Ltd, who last month received a combined $600 million share-based compensation for "recognition and reward" as part of the takeover of U.S.-based Smithfield Foods Inc.

(Corrects to say award was worth $891 million in 2nd paragraph, Liu's compensation equivalent to half of shares in IPO in 5th paragraph)

(Editing by Stephen Coates)

By Elzio Barreto and Denny Thomas