Successful startup founders giving away fortune to society

Woowa Brothers founder and Chairman Kim Bong-jin and his wife Sul Bo-mi / Courtesy of Woowa Brothers

By Baek Byung-yeul

Some startup founders, who have led their businesses to success, are now becoming paragons of virtue as they make pledges to give away a chunk of their wealth to charity with the hopes of making society and the country a better place, and to resolve issues faced by socially vulnerable groups.

On Feb. 18, food delivery app operator Woowa Brothers founder and Chairman Kim Bong-jin announced he and his wife will donate more than half of their wealth, estimated to be more than 500 billion won ($451 million). Woowa Brothers runs the country's largest delivery app Baedal Minjok, simply known as Baemin.

Kim said he and his wife Sul Bo-mi have joined the Giving Pledge, a global organization comprised of the world's wealthiest individuals and families that is dedicated to giving the majority of their wealth back to society. The organization was created by Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett.

The Woowa Brothers founder said in a message on the Giving Pledge website: "We are certain that this pledge is the greatest inheritance that we could provide for our children."

"Just as we went through a lot of trouble in the beginning as a startup, we will continue to learn about various means of giving and solutions to social issues through trial and error. We would love to keep sharing the experience with many people and expand the culture of philanthropy," he added.

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su / Courtesy of Kakao

Kim and his wife's pledge came few days after the news that Kakao founder Kim Beonm-su had promised to donate more than half of his assets, estimated to be more than 10 trillion won, to charity. Kakao runs the country's largest messaging app KakaoTalk ― installed on more than 90 percent of smartphones here ― and other service apps.

The Kakao founder said, "I have pledged to donate more than half of my assets to solve social issues." Stating that he "aims to solve social issues and help people," Kim added he would soon announce the details of the donation.

Their moves have been well received among Koreans who are used to witnessing power struggles between chaebol (family controlled conglomerates) heirs or their attempts at tax evasion.

Oh Il-sun, director of the Korea CXO Institute, said the charitable donations could become a turning point in Korean society, creating a new culture of philanthropy.

"In other countries, entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have been respected for their donation activities. The Kakao founder's donation pledge has seemingly ignited the creation of a new donation culture in Korea," he said.

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