Kim Beom-su

$3.3B
as of 10/04/24

About Kim Beom-su

Kim Beom-su is the founder of Kakao, South Korea's biggest messaging app, which is installed in 90% of the country's smartphones. He stepped down as chairman and left the board in March 2022.

Kakao's tens of millions of users also use the app for gaming, shopping and chatting.

In 2014 Kakao acquired the country's No. 2 search engine Daum in an all stock transaction worth $3.3 billion which resulted in a back door listing.

That same year the South Korean government classified Kakao as a large company; it is the first tech startup that made it into the big leagues.

In 2021 Kim signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to charitable causes.

Personal stats

Citizenship

South Korea

Source of wealth

Online services

Residence

Seoul, South Korea

Marital status

Married

Birth date

03/27/66 (age 58)

Number of children

2

Education

Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Seoul National University; Master of Science, Seoul National University

Self-made

self-made

Kim Beom-su’s fortune is worth

55K

troy ounces of gold

51K

median U.S. household

33K

median U.S. income

0.066%

U.S. credit card volume

0.013%

GDP of the United States

0.01%

United States debt

Net worth history

Annual ranking

Did you know?

Kim grew up in poverty and paid his way through college by offering private tutoring, sometimes skipping meals to save money.

Net worth over time

Real-time ranking

Financial assets

KOREA | 035720-KR

Daum Kakao Corp

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