Kim Beom-soo (businessman)

Kim Beom-soo (Korean: 김범수; born 8 March 1966), also known as Brian Kim, is a South Korean billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of Kakao, a South Korean internet company.[4]

For other people with the same name, see Kim Bum-soo (disambiguation).
Kim Beom-soo
Born (1966-03-08) 8 March 1966
Damyang-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea[1][2]
Other namesBrian Kim[3]
Alma materSeoul National University (BS, MS)
Known forFounder of Hangame and Kakao
TitleChairman of Kakao
Children2
Korean name
Hangul
김범수
Hanja
金範洙
Revised RomanizationKim Beom-su
McCune–ReischauerKim Pŏm-su
In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Early life and education

Kim grew up in one of Seoul's poorest neighbourhoods and is the third of five children. He was raised by his grandmother in a one-bedroom apartment as his parents worked. His father was a pen factory worker and his mother was a hotel maid with a grade-school education.[5][6]

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, and a Master of Science degree, both from Seoul National University.[7]

Career

Kim's first job was as a developer for an online communication service at Samsung’s IT services unit.[8]

In 1998, Kim started Hangame with $184,000 he was given by friends and family. The company started as an internet café business but later became South Korea's first online gaming portal. He merged the company with web portal Naver in 2000 and later worked as a representative of NHN until 2007.[8][9][6]

Kim moved to Silicon Valley, California in 2005 and in 2006, created IWILAB, an incubator for Korean entrepreneurs in Mountain View.[6]

In 2010, he started KakaoTalk.[10] KakaoTalk is South Korea's biggest messaging app and is installed on 90% of the country's smartphones.[4]

In May 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$11.2 billion.[4]

In the same year, Kim signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropy.[4]

Personal life

He is married with two children and lives in Seoul, South Korea.[7]

Being accused of gambling

He was accused of gambling in Las Vegas in the early years of Kakao Corp from 2007 to 2010. Overseas gambling is illegal under Korean law. Korean prosecutors have reportedly obtained information from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury that Kakao mobile messenger founder Kim had spent 20 hours and 51 minutes at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas in 2007 when he served as NHN Global CEO. He bet an average of $2,440 per session and lost $16,993, Korean Hankook Ilbo newspaper reported.[11] The company decided to comply with the prosecution's warrants requesting monitoring of chatting records, a reversal from its earlier stance.[11]

References
  1. 담양뉴스 모바일 사이트: 카카오 김범수 의장은 ‘담양사람’
  2. 시사저널: 카카오와 김범수 의장을 바라보는 두 가지 시선
  3. Kim Beom-Su "Brian" (Bloomberg L.P.)
  4. "Kim Beom-su". Forbes. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. Jennings, Ralph. "Kakao Founder Becomes Korea's Richest Person As Shares Of His Internet Giant Surge". Forbes. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. Mac, Ryan. "How KakaoTalk's Billionaire Creator Ignited A Global Messaging War". Forbes. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. "Kim Beom-Su". Forbes. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  8. "Become an FT subscriber to read | Financial Times". Financial Times. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  9. "Kakao chairman to donate half his wealth". koreatimes. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  10. "Kakao's Kim eclipses Samsung heir as South Korea's richest man". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  11. "Kakao chairman again embroiled in gambling scandal". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
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