Kim Beom-soo, also known as Brian Kim, (born 8 March 1966) is a South Korean billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman of
Kakao
Kakao ( ko, 카카오) is a South Korean internet company that was established in 2010. It formed as a result of a merger between Daum (web portal), Daum Communications and the original Kakao Inc. In 2014, the company was renamed Daum Kakao. Th ...
, a South Korean internet company.
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.
He has a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in engineering, and an
MSc degree, both from
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...
.
Career
Kim's first job was as a developer for an online communication service at
Samsung’s IT services unit.
In 1998, Kim started
Hangame
Hangame ( ko, 한게임) (also known as Hange ( ja, ハンゲ) and formerly known as NHN Hangame ( ja, NHNハンゲーム) in Japan) is a popular South Korean online game portal operated by NHN Corporation. Launched in December 1999, Hangame offer ...
with $184,000 he was given by friends and family. The company started as an
internet café
An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally ...
business but later became South Korea's first online gaming portal. He merged the company with web portal
Naver
Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...
in 2000 and later worked as a representative of
NHN until 2007.
Kim moved to
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in 2005 and in 2006, created IWILAB, an
incubator
An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures
* Incubator (egg), a de ...
for Korean entrepreneurs in
Mountain View.
In 2010, he started
KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk (Hangul: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Hangul: 카톡) in South Korea, is a mobile messaging app for smartphones operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched on March 18, 2010, and it is available on mobile and deskto ...
.
KakaoTalk is South Korea's biggest messaging app and is installed on 90% of the country's smartphones.
In May 2021, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' estimated his net worth at US$11.2 billion.
In the same year, Kim signed the
Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, a ...
, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropy.
Personal life
He is married with two children and lives in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Beom-soo
1966 births
Living people
South Korean billionaires
South Korean businesspeople
Seoul National University alumni
People from Seoul
People from South Jeolla Province