South Korea Has a New Online Gaming Billionaire

  • Pearl Abyss’s Kim worth $1.1 billion as stock surges after IPO
  • Game hit market in 2014, now played in more than 100 countries
Kim Dae-ilPhotographer: jen26 via Pearl Abyss Corp.
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Pearl Abyss Corp.’s role-playing hit Black Desert Online has helped make founder Kim Dae-il South Korea’s latest internet-gaming billionaire.

Shares of the Anyang-based developer have more than doubled since its September initial public offering, adding about $689 million to Kim’s fortune and giving him a net worth of $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. Kim, who directly owns 39 percent of the company, confirmed his net worth and the size of his stake.