Kakao's Kim Beom-su Pledges "Half of Wealth Donation" to The Giving Pledge

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kim Beom-su, chairman of the Kakao board, has joined the global voluntary giving movement 'The Giving Pledge.'

On the 16th, Kakao announced that Chairman Kim became the 220th donor to The Giving Pledge. He is the second in South Korea after Kim Bong-jin, chairman of Woowa Brothers.

The Giving Pledge is a voluntary giving movement started in 2010 when Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft (MS), his wife Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, pledged to return their wealth to society.

Currently, 220 people from 25 countries have pledged. Participants include Elon Musk of Tesla and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

In his pledge letter, Chairman Kim said, "A young man who nurtured the dream of starting a business after reading a special article on MS's 20th anniversary in 1995 is now about to take The Giving Pledge," adding, "I feel as excited as when I first encountered that article. I express my respect and gratitude to Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, and the previous donors."

Chairman Kim explained, "My wife and I plan to donate more than half of our wealth to society before we die through this pledge, and we intend to use the donations first for causes that can help solve social problems."

He continued, "After achieving the wealth I aimed for, I lost my direction in life and wandered for a while, but after encountering the poem 'What is Success,' I was able to find my life's compass," adding, "Ten years ago, when I started a project to nurture 100 entrepreneurs, reflecting again on the meaning of success, it bore excellent fruit in the form of the Kakao community, which has influenced the lives of many people in South Korea."

Chairman Kim also revealed plans to discover and support 100 innovators who address social issues through social enterprises or foundations. He said, "We will seek appropriate alternatives for the future education system, strive to level the playing field skewed by wealth disparity, and spare no support for those who help the sick and the struggling."

Chairman Kim added, "I hope the path we walk will contribute to the journey of other innovators challenging to change the world."

Earlier, on the 8th of last month, Chairman Kim declared that he would donate more than half of his wealth (approximately 5 trillion won) to solving social problems.

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