Beomsu Kim “Role model is Bill Gates”… Solve social problems right away with donations

“Man is completely imperfect. This is the word that the’heart doctor’ who listens to my concerns whenever it is difficult. I think the organization is incomplete because it was created by an incomplete person.”

Kim Bum-soo (55), chairman of the Kakao Board of Directors, who declared to donate more than half of his assets, threw the topic of’responsibility for imperfect society’. On the afternoon of the 25th, at a meeting with Kakao employees,’Brian Talk After’. “The reason for supporting democracy and capitalism is that there are imperfections such as absurdity and inequality, but it is an institution that has the hope of changing them.” He added, “If we can communicate in an incomplete organizational encounter and move forward with a better culture and method, this meeting will be very meaningful.” About 5600 people attended the online conference held in person.

Chairman Kim gave a fresh shock to Korean society by announcing that he will solve social problems by donating more than half of his property on the 8th. Chairman Kim, the largest shareholder in Kakao, currently has a stake of more than 10 trillion won and the donation amount is over 5 trillion won. On this day, Chairman Kim said, “I think of the founder of Microsoft (MS) Bill Gates as a (donation) role model.” “Looking at the foundation created by Bill Gates, I was the first to think that a company could do that.”

When asked what social problems he will solve, he explained, “I am interested in people who are preparing for the future, people who have not been given opportunities due to the digital education gap, and artificial intelligence (AI) talents.” . He said, “The more startups there are, the better it will be,” he said. “I hope that there will be a structure in which (many) people who go to startups come out as well as going to a good university and a good job.”

He said he prefers the’project’ method for problem solving methods. Chairman Kim said, “Rather than setting priorities and making strategies, it is fun to freely solve problems by saying,’Let’s try this, let’s just do it’. said.

On this day, Chairman Kim’s topic’imperfect’ was not limited to donating property. Regarding the recent controversy over’workplace harassment’ surrounding Kakao personnel evaluation, Chairman Kim pointed out that “a warning light has been lit in the company culture.” Chairman Kim also said, “In Kakao, there should never be an act of ignoring or harassing anyone. If there is such a leader or colleague, you must correct it.” “We are completely imperfect beings, but the culture of the company is revealed in how we apologize when we make a mistake,” he emphasized. “I hope that you will look carefully around and read carefully.” Regarding compensation, he added, “If it is less than our competitors, we will have to improve it quickly, but I hope that we will give time for long-term changes.”

Inside and outside the industry, the meeting held by Chairman Kim, the founder, is not unrelated to Kakao’s rapid change in status. Kakao, a startup that launched Kakao Talk in 2010, is now large enough to belong to a large corporate group designated by the Fair Trade Commission. The number of employees (including affiliates) from 5,159 (as of the end of 2016) increased to 1,644 at the end of last year. The market capitalization has also risen vertically from 5,206.4 billion won five years ago to 42,9655 billion won (based on the 25th closing price). Amid criticism that’chachaos’, which meant a free and horizontal culture, had faded, Chairman Kim made his own evolution on this day.

An employee of Kakao said, “Since the organizational structure is complicated and people from various organizations work together, the atmosphere is less free than in the early days. Kim Do-hyun, a professor of business administration at Kookmin University, said, “As the number of young employees increases, it is a process of changing corporate culture with an atmosphere of saying words.

Meanwhile, Kakao held a board meeting on the 25th and announced that it has decided to split the value per share of common stock from 500 won to 100 won. New shares are scheduled to go public on April 15th. An official of the company explained, “It is to increase the accessibility for investment by various market participants by lowering the stock price per share.”

Reporter Park Min-je [email protected]