Shin Won-geun, Next CEO of Kakao Pay, "Will Return Salary and Bonuses Until Stock Price Reaches 200,000 Won"

Restriction on Share Sales During Executive Term
Announcement of Full Return of Capital Gains from Sales

Shin Won-geun, Nominee for CEO of Kakao Pay

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Kakao Pay, which faced criticism from shareholders due to massive stock sales by its management, has announced measures to restore trust. The incoming CEO declared that he will receive only the minimum wage without any salary or performance bonuses. Along with this, the company pledged restrictions on management stock sales, strengthened responsible management, and enhanced social responsibilities.

Shin Won-geun, the incoming CEO of Kakao Pay, announced the "Action Plan for Trust Restoration" on the 24th, aiming to regain trust broken by the sharp stock price drop caused by large-scale stock sales by the management at the end of last year.

This plan is the result of an agreement reached in February by the Trust Restoration Council, composed of Shin, Professor Bae Young from Pohang University of Science and Technology (currently an outside director), Kakao Pay employees, and the Kakao labor union. It includes ▲ restrictions on stock sales to prevent recurrence ▲ stock repurchase and profit return ▲ strengthening responsible management and social responsibilities ▲ and a re-approval process to ensure faithful obligation fulfillment.

First, Shin declared that he will receive only the minimum wage without any salary or performance bonuses until Kakao Pay's stock price reaches 200,000 KRW. As of 10:14 AM on the same day, Kakao Pay's stock price stood at 135,500 KRW, down 3.56% from the previous day.

Additionally, the existing management team of five, including Shin, agreed to return incentives related to last year's performance and use them as compensation funds for employees. Furthermore, they pledged to conduct quarterly company stock repurchases within this year once legal restrictions on stock repurchases are lifted, and to return all profits from subsequent stock sales.

According to the stock sale regulations announced by Kakao in January, the CEO of Kakao Pay is prohibited from selling stocks for two years after listing, and the management team for one year. This action plan also imposes limits on the volume of stocks that can be sold. When selling stocks, information about the sale will be shared with the company and the Kakao Community Alignment Center (CAC) one month in advance to assess risks, following internally established guidelines.

Moreover, Kakao Pay plans to establish continuous communication channels with its members and actively prepare various social contribution measures to fulfill social responsibilities externally toward users and investors, while also practicing ESG management.

Shin stated, "I will continue to strengthen responsible management to restore internal and external trust and do my best to achieve the company's 'second growth.'"

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