Who is Kim Beom-su, South Koreas richest man in 2022? The self-made billionaire grew up in povert
It’s hard to imagine what Kim’s life looked like before his billion-dollar fortune. In a profile in The Financial Times, Kim, 56, also known as Brian Kim, recalled that his family shared a bedroom in a poor neighbourhood in Seoul and that his parents struggled to make a living. He was the first one in his family to go to university and he paid his way by offering private tutoring sessions.
“We had to create our own paths because my parents didn’t have time to take care of us,” he said in the interview. “A great degree of autonomy was given to us, which also taught me a sense of responsibility.”
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He first worked at Samsung
The same Financial Times profile mentioned that he started out as a software engineer at Samsung SDS, the company’s IT services unit. But he left after five years to open an internet cafe and to launch online game portal Hangame, which then merged with search engine Naver to become South Korea’s dominant web portal, NHN.
After heading NHN for five years, he moved to Silicon Valley in 2005 to expand the company’s presence in the US. However, it was tougher than expected, and he left NHN for another venture.
Then, in 2007, the iPhone came out. Kim, who was in California at the time, was mesmerised by the smartphone. He and the members of Iwilab, now Kakao, which he founded in 2006, developed messenger apps for the new mobile product as they believed the smartphone was primarily going to be used as a “means of communication”. according to The Korea Herald. Kim ended up developing KakaoTalk, which then merged with web portal Daum to become Kakao.
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He is reportedly preparing his kids to take over
The Korea Times reported that Kim hired his son Kim Sang-bin and daughter Kim Ye-bin to work for K Cube Holdings, Kakao’s holding company, in 2020. Insiders saw the move as a means to ensure a smooth succession. He also reportedly gave his wife and two children 60,000 Kakao shares each, worth more than US$20 million in total.
He was once involved in a gambling scandal
Gambling is illegal both domestically and overseas, according to Korean law. So when Korean prosecutors got wind from the US Department of Justice that Kim had allegedly spent almost 21 hours gambling at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas in 2007 – where he spent an average of US$2,440 per session and lost US$16,993 over the course of the evening – it was a big scandal. A Kakao spokesperson refused to comment on the investigation when it became public knowledge in 2015, according to The Korea Herald.
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He has signed The Giving Pledge
In March 2021, Kim signed The Giving Pledge, a promise by the world’s wealthiest individuals – including the likes of Melinda Gates and Elon Musk – to dedicate most their wealth to charitable causes. He went on record saying that his donation will aim to solve social problems, particularly issues in education, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.This year, he resigned as Kakao’s chairman of the board to explore bigger opportunities overseas in mobile-focused platform businesses, according to The Korea Herald.
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