Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Wemade chairman becomes 10th richest man in stock ownership
The headquarters of Wemade in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of Wemade
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
With the global success of its MIR 4 game and innovative adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into it, gaming company Wedmade's share price has soared in recent months. The company is ranked No. 1 among firms listed on both the main KOSPI and tech-heavy Kosdaq markets with regard to an increase in stock price over the past three months, seeing a 494.49 percent jump.
The escalating share price has made Wemade's founder and chairman, Park Kwan-ho, the country's 10th richest person in terms of stock ownership. He holds a 47 percent stake in the company, with its value rising to more than 3.36 trillion won ($2.82 billion), as of the closing price last Thursday ― a huge increase from 565 billion won three months ago.
As of the stock rose another 4.64 percent Friday, the company's market cap was boosted to 7.89 trillion won.
Chairman Park's ascendancy to become the country's 10th richest person in stock ownership, also saw him become the second richest person in the game industry, behind Krafton founder and Chairman Chang Byung-gyu, who owns stocks worth 3.81 trillion won.