Kim Taek Jin

Don't tell Kim Taek Jin that South Korea's Internet-based companies are collapsing. The president of NCSoft Corp., Korea's leading online games company, thinks the party has just begun. Small wonder. Kim's online fantasy game "Lineage" is one of the most popular of its kind in Korea, not only among teenagers but also game maniacs in their 30s and 40s. The multi-user "network" game claims more than 40% of the domestic online game market. And Kim boasts that as many as 110,000 gamers have been logged on to Lineage at the same time.

Even more remarkable, Lineage has emerged as a serious money-spinner. Its stock has nearly doubled, to some $100, since it was listed on Korea's technology-rich Kosdaq market last July. That's because its operating profit jumped nine times, to $23 million last year, on sales of $45 million.