NCsoft CEO Becomes Korea’s Richest Venture Chief

NCsoft CEO Kim Taek-jin, whose company developed the hit online game Lineage, is the first Korean venture entrepreneur with stock holdings worth more than a trillion won (791.8 million U.S. dollars).

According to chaebul.com, an online provider of information on big business in Korea, Kim’s holdings of NCsoft stocks were valued at 1.02 trillion won based on the company’s mid-day share price Friday, which reached 182,000 won (144 U.S. dollars) per share at one point.

As the stock fell to close at 173,000 won, the value of his shares fell to 969.9 billion won. The aggregate value, however, is expected to soon exceed a trillion won based on the closing price of the stocks.

The value of Kim’s NCsoft shareholdings is the eighth biggest in the country. All of the country`s top seven stockholders above him are conglomerate tycoons and their family members.

No. 1 on the list is former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who owns stocks worth nearly three trillion won, followed by Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo with 1.85 trillion won, and Hyundai Heavy Industries adviser Chung Mong-joon, a lawmaker with the ruling Grand National Party.

jefflee@donga.com