'Inheritance for our children': South Korean food app CEO to donate half his wealth

At least two South Korean billionaires have pledged to donate half of their total wealth for social causes. Founder of South Korea’s food-delivery app Woowa Brothers, Kim Bong-jin, announced that he will be giving away his wealth under the Bill and Melinda Gates initiative Giving Pledge that he signed as a “humble beginning” on a small island, according to his statement to Giving Pledge cited by state-run press sources.

Similarly, the founder of South Korea’s popular messaging app KakaoTalk, Kim Beom-Su announced early this month that he was donating an estimated US$9.6bil (RM38.88bil) assets to alleviate the struggles of the country’s underprivileged. In a message dispatched to Kakao's employees, Kim Beom-Su said that he has pledged to give in charity his wealth valued at over 5.7 trillion won, for social welfare cause. This would include 12.5 million shares of Kakao, the CEO said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

Kim Bong-jin and Bomi Sul, CEO of Woowa, declaring charity from their personal assets said in a statement: "Ten years ago when I was running a small company of fewer than 20 employees, I read an article about Bill Gates and Warren Buffett making the pledge and had a wild dream of one day making the pledge myself. It is very overwhelming that I am making such a pledge, today". Kim holds a nearly 9.89 percent stake in the country’s prominent food-delivery app even as Germany’s Delivery Hero SE had overtaken the majority of shares for Foran estimated $4billion in 2019. His wealth from his assets calculates to $400 million, according to the Bloomberg index. 

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CEO says 'best decision'

The entrepreneur called his initiative of donating his wealth the "best decision of his lives so far". He emphasised in Giving Pledge’s statement that he was inspired to help people as his journey had started with a 'humble' beginning. The South Korean CEO stated that he wishes to "resolve the issue of educational inequality, support arts, and culture, and establish an organization that could help philanthropic institutions in carrying out their work". 

Meanwhile, separately, a former CEO of the airport retail ‘Duty-Free Shoppers’, Chuck Feeney, known for dispensing €1bn on Irish ­projects, donated all his wealth in charity and retired last month. The 89-year-old endorser of the Giving While Living, known to propagate the monk life among followers, and for making humongous donations via Atlantic Philanthropies (AP), including direct grants to higher education and national research infrastructure funding, was declared officially ‘broke’ after he donated all his riches, according to his company Atlantic Philanthropies official release. 

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(Image Credit: Twitter/@sel3nette)