Toss CEO Apologizes for "April Fool's Day Housing Support Pledge": "I Failed to Grasp the Seriousness of the Housing Issue"

Seunggun Lee, CEO of Toss, who had made an "April Fool’s Day pledge" to support employees’ housing costs, has expressed his apologies, saying, "There were aspects I failed to consider."

On April 7, through his social networking service (SNS) account, Lee stated, "For me, housing issues have been a long-standing concern, but presenting it in the format of an April Fool’s joke may have come across as too light for the gravity of the issue."

In previous years, Toss has organized surprise events for April Fool’s Day. In 2022, the company offered a one-year free lease of a Tesla electric vehicle to 10 employees. Last year, 100 employees were given support for a three-day, two-night trip to Okinawa, Japan. The expenses for these events were personally covered by Lee.

This year, for April Fool’s Day, Lee announced a bold pledge through the company’s internal messenger: "I will sell my personally owned residence and use the proceeds to cover the rent and loan interest for 100 Toss team members for life."

Seunggun Lee, CEO of Toss. The Asia Business Daily DB

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He explained, "Since before founding the company, I have been aware of the gap between those who profit from real estate and those who struggle due to housing costs," adding, "In considering the future of the community, I decided this was something I should put into action." Lee is known to reside at Eterno Cheongdam in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

However, after the pledge was announced, the scope of the event was scaled down to supporting the first year of housing costs for 10 employees, and the source of funding changed from "selling my residence" to "initially providing support from personal funds, with future real estate profits to be reinvested." Some have criticized the use of the sensitive issue of housing costs in Korean society as the subject of an April Fool’s joke, calling it inappropriate.

In response, Lee said, "This is an in-house event that has continued for several years, and this year it became an unexpectedly big topic, with some even suggesting it was staged for company publicity." He added, "The purpose of the April Fool’s Day event was to express gratitude to colleagues and to share my ongoing thoughts and appreciation with them."

He continued, "This year, I have reflected on the many comments and feedback I received," emphasizing, "While one person’s efforts cannot solve such a huge issue, I believe there are ways for me to contribute to society individually. I will fulfill my responsibility as a member of the community by returning profits from real estate transactions to society."

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