Kevin Warsh, U.S. Fed Chair, Officially Resigns from Coupang Inc. Board

Immediate Notice Following U.S. Senate Confirmation
Resignation in Accordance With Conflict-of-Interest Rules Prohibiting Dual Role as Chair and Director

As previously announced, Kevin Warsh, the new chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), has stepped down from his position as a board director of Coupang Inc., the parent company of Coupang.

According to a report submitted by Coupang Inc., which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 14th (local time), Chairman Warsh resigned from his position as a director at Coupang Inc. on the 13th, immediately after the U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment. This decision was made in accordance with U.S. federal ethics and conflict-of-interest requirements, which prohibit serving simultaneously as Fed chair and as a company board director.

Kevin Warsh, the next Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed). Photo by Yonhap News

Previously, on January 30, after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his intention to nominate him as Fed chair, Warsh notified Coupang Inc. four days later that he would resign from the board if confirmed for the Fed chair position.

The Senate approved Warsh's nomination as a Fed governor on the 12th, and the following day, brought his nomination as Fed chair to a vote in the main session, passing it with 54 votes in favor and 45 against. The term for the Fed chair is four years. Warsh, the new chairman, can take office immediately after current Chair Jerome Powell's term ends on the 15th. He is expected to be inaugurated as the new Fed chair within this week.

Coupang Inc. stated, "Warsh's decision to resign from the board was not due to any disagreement or issue related to the company's management, policies, or practices." Warsh will not run for re-election as a director at Coupang Inc.'s annual general meeting of shareholders scheduled for June 11. Initially, Coupang Inc. planned to present the re-election of its eight current directors, including Coupang founder and chairman Bom Kim and Warsh, as agenda items at the meeting. With Warsh's resignation, the vote on his re-election will not be held, and Coupang Inc.'s board will reduce the number of directors by one.

Meanwhile, Warsh has served as a member of Coupang Inc.'s board since October 2019. He is a Harvard alumnus alongside Chairman Kim and is known to have played an important role in Coupang's listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. According to SEC filings, Warsh held 470,000 shares of Coupang Inc. as of June last year, which is worth approximately 14 billion won at the recent KRW-USD exchange rate.

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