According to the list of the 50 richest people in Korea in 2023 recently announced by Forbes, MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-joo (Michael Kim) is the highest earner this year with a net worth of 9.7 billion USD.
This is the first time that Mr. Kim Byung-joo has ranked first in the annual list published by Forbes. From 13th place with a fortune of 1.9 billion USD in 2021, Mr. Kim Byung-joo has risen to 3rd place in 2022 with 7.5 billion USD.
Mr. Kim Byung-joo was born in South Korea in 1963 and moved to the United States at the age of 10. After graduating from Harvard Business School, he worked at Goldman Sachs and consulting firm Salomon Smith Barney, and was also the head of Carlyle's Asia financial fund.
Mr. Kim Byung-joo is the founder and chairman of MBK Partners, a private investment firm that currently manages assets worth more than $26 billion. Photo: bestofkorea.com
Kim is known as a pioneer of private equity in Asia. In 2005, he founded private equity firm MBK Partners. Since then, he has invested in 64 companies in three Northeast Asian countries, earning more than $50 billion. MBK Partners currently operates six funds with an average return of 21.7% in 2022.
Notably, MBK Partners has conducted several major M&A deals in Korea involving Hanmi Capital, Coway, ING Life, Homeplus, Doosan Machine Tools and Lotte Card. The acquisition of supermarket chain Homeplus from British conglomerate Tesco in September 2015 was the largest private sector deal in Korea to date.
MBK Partners-backed insurer ING Life was also the first private sector company to list on the Korean stock exchange after its IPO in 2017.
In 2022, MBK Partners sold a 13% stake to US-based Dyal Capital Partners for about $1 billion. The company's assets are now estimated at more than 10 trillion won. It is one of the largest private equity firms in Asia and among the top five private equity firms in the world .
MBK Partners has made many large M&A deals in Korea, including the acquisition of supermarket chain Homeplus from British group Tesco in 2015. Photo: naver.com
While South Korea's export-reliant economy is set to grow 2.6% in 2022, its stock market has been one of the worst performers in Asia over the past 12 months.
This is one of the reasons why the total assets of the tycoons on the list of the 50 richest people in Korea this year decreased by 18% to $106 billion from $130 billion in 2022.
Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong is now in second place, with his fortune dropping to $8 billion from $9.2 billion in 2022, due to a slump in demand for semiconductors and smartphones. This is the third consecutive year that Mr. Lee has held the position.
Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-young ranked second in the list of 50 richest billionaires in Korea for the third consecutive year. Photo: gsmarena
Behind Mr. Lee is Celltrion pharmaceutical tycoon Seo Jung-jin, although his fortune fell from $6.9 billion in 2022 to $5.7 billion this year.
Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder of gaming company Smilegate Holdings, came in fourth with $5.2 billion. Kim Beom-su, the head of internet conglomerate Kakao, who topped the list last year, dropped to fifth place as his fortune nearly halved to $5.1 billion .
Nguyen Tuyet (According to Forbes, Korea Joongang Daily, Business Korea)
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