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| Woowa Brothers CEO Kim Bong-jin, right, and his wife, Sul Bo-mi. Courtesy of Woowa Brothers |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Kim Bong-jin, founder and CEO of Woowa Brothers which operates the nation's leading food delivery app Baedal Minjok, became the first Korean participant in the Giving Pledge, after he and his wife, Sul Bo-mi, promised to donate more than half of their wealth, the app operator said Thursday.
He is expected to donate at least $500 million, given the fact that one needs to own assets worth $1 billion to participate in the Giving Pledge.
The Giving Pledge is a non-binding movement of philanthropists that started in August 2010 after Microsoft Founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett promised to return their wealth to society.
Its participants include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Most of them are self-made billionaires.
According to Woowa Brothers, Kim had attempted to join the Giving Pledge initiative last October, but it was hard for him to find a way to become one of its pledgers.
After he contacted the United Way Worldwide (UWW) through the Community Chest of Korea, UWW President Brian Gallagher introduced Kim to an official at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which manages the Giving Pledge.
Then the Giving Pledge checked Kim's references through Altos Ventures Managing Director Han Kim and Goldman Sachs Managing Director Lee Jay-hyun. Kim's participation in the campaign was approved as Lee told the Giving Pledge officials that Woowa Brothers had been delivering milk to senior citizens living alone in order to check their safety every morning, according to officials involved with the issue.
"My wife and I hereby pledge that we will return more than half of our wealth to society during our lifetime. Our lovely children, Han-na and Ju-a, have agreed with our decision," Kim said in a statement.
"Ten years ago, when I was running a small company of less than 20 employees, I read an article about Bill Gates and Warren Buffet making a pledge and had a wild dream of one day making a pledge myself. It is very overwhelming that I am making such a pledge, today."
