MBK's Kim Byung-ju named richest man in Korea by Forbes

Kim Byung-ju, founder and chairman of MBK Partners [MBK PARTNERS]

Forbes named Kim Byung-ju, founder and chairman of MBK Partners, as the richest individual in Korea.

According to Korea’s 50 Richest 2023, released by the magazine Monday, Kim's net worth was $9.7 billion, the highest in Korea and No. 201 globally.

Following Kim on the list are Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Electronics executive chairman, with $8 billion in assets; Seo Jung-jin, Celltrion Group chairman, with $5.7 billion; Kwon Hyuk-bin, Smilegate Holdings chief visionary officer, with $5.1 billion; and Kim Beom-soo, chairman of Kakao, with $5 billion.

Kim’s wealth has been on the rise, climbing from 13th place in 2021 with a fortune of $1.9 billion to 3rd place in 2022 with $7.5 billion, and finally to the top spot in 2023.

“Kim was the biggest gainer in both percentage and dollar terms, up $2 billion from last year due to new information about his investments,” Forbes wrote on Monday.

Kim has gained a reputation as a trailblazer and leader in the Asian private equity market.

After moving to the United States at the age of 10, Kim graduated from Harvard Business School. He has worked at Goldman Sachs and Salomon Smith Barney, and was the head of Carlyle Asia.

Since founding MBK Partners in 2005, Kim has invested in 64 companies in three Northeast Asian countries, with total sales of these companies exceeding $50 billion. Notably, his firm has conducted major mergers and acquisitions in Korea, with deals involving Hanmi Capital, Coway, ING Life, Homeplus, Doosan Machine Tools and Lotte Card. Recently, MBK Partners acquired Osstem Implant, a dental implant manufacturer, for $690 million.

The Seoul-based private equity firm manages more than $26 billion in assets.

The six funds run by MBK achieved an average return of 21.7 percent last year. In 2022, MBK Partners sold a 13 percent stake to US-based Dyal Capital Partners for roughly $1 billion, with its net asset value estimated to be more than 10 trillion won. This is the largest in Asia, and puts it among the top five private equity firms in the world along with Blackstone and Carlyle.

Forbes wrote the collective wealth of the country’s 50 richest fell as "Korea’s stock market was one of the worst performers in Asia over the past 12 months" together with a "weaker won."

Kakao's Kim slipped from No. 1 last year to No. 5 this year as the share price of Kakao collapsed. The net worth of Celltrion's Seo and Lee of Samsung Electronics both declined $1.2 billion.

Korea has six newcomers on the Forbes list, including EcoPro Founder Lee Dong-chae who was ranked 18th place as the share price of the battery maker surged.

BY SEO JI-EUN, AHN HYO-SUNG [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]