Kakao to Reappoint Co-CEOs Yeominsu and Josuyong

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao co-CEOs Yeo Minsu and Cho Sooyong will extend their terms.

Kakao will approve the reappointment of the two co-CEOs at the board meeting held on the 25th. The terms of the two co-CEOs run until the end of next month, and the extension will be officially confirmed at the shareholders' meeting in March. This is the first time since Kakao merged with Daum in 2014 that a Kakao CEO has extended their term.

An IT industry insider said on the 24th, "The atmosphere that the two CEOs will remain in office has already become a foregone conclusion." Earlier, Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su also stated in an interview with the media that he would reappoint the two CEOs.

The reason the two CEOs gained trust is attributed to the improvement in the company's management performance. Kakao's annual sales, which were less than 2 trillion won in 2017, surpassed 3 trillion won for the first time last year. Operating profit also exceeded 200 billion won, increasing by about 25% compared to two years ago. Sales related to KakaoTalk, which recorded 649.8 billion won last year, are also expected to reach 1 trillion won this year.

Co-CEO Yeo joined Kakao in August 2016 as Vice President in charge of the advertising business division and led data-driven personalized advertising platforms. Co-CEO Cho joined Kakao in December 2016 as Vice President in charge of brand design and introduced brands such as KakaoBank, KakaoT, and KakaoMini.

Also, at next month's shareholders' meeting, three of Kakao's four outside directors (Cho Min-sik, Choi Jae-hong, Piao Yanli, and Cho Gyu-jin), except for Professor Cho Gyu-jin of Seoul National University, will be replaced, drawing attention to the selection of successors. In particular, outside director Piao Yanli, who represented Tencent, the third-largest shareholder from China, is included among those to be replaced, ending her eight-year tenure on Kakao's board of directors.

Meanwhile, it is also known that Naver CEO Han Seong-sook is expected to be reappointed. Naver will soon hold a board meeting to approve the reappointment of CEO Han, who took office in 2017.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.