Social Distancing Makes Chat App Tycoon $1.2 Billion Richer
- Brian Kim’s net worth climbs to $3.7 billion during pandemic
- Commerce on Kakao’s platform increased 55% in first quarter
KakaoTalk app
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
As a kid in South Korea, Brian Kim grew up with the opposite of social distancing: Coming from a humble background, he had to share a room with seven family members. Those days are gone, and measures keeping people apart are now helping his fortune.
Kim, 54, is the founder of Kakao Corp., the maker of a mobile messenger app that has become almost ubiquitous in South Korea and increasingly used elsewhere in Asia. The firm, which started with a social-messaging app, has expanded its businesses over the past decade by purchasing a K-pop entertainment company and merging with the country’s second-largest portal site, while its mobile-hailing and payment services are now daily necessities for many consumers.