“Misjudgment” in controversy over stock options eating
▲ Shin Won-geun, the new CEO of Kakao Pay. Provided by Kakao Pay
With the new CEO, Kakao Pay is paying attention to whether it can recover the credibility that has fallen due to the so-called ‘executive stock option eat-and-run controversy’.
Kakao Pay held a general meeting of shareholders and board of directors on the 28th and appointed Shin Won-geun (45), vice president of strategy (CSO) as the new CEO. The term of office is two years. CEO Shin graduated from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University and received an MBA from Columbia University in the United States. After that, he worked for Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Department Strategic Marketing Department and a consulting firm Bain & Company Seoul office as an assistant partner before joining Kakao Pay as CSO in February 2018.
In December of last year, when Shin was a representative nominee, he exercised a stock option with Kakao Pay CEO Young-jun Ryu, vice president of business (CBO) Lee Jin, and vice president of business planning (CFO) Jang Ki-joo in December last year. (Mass sales contract) and the case of collecting 87.8 billion won in profit caused a scandal. All eight executives who sold their shares expressed their intention to resign to the Kakao Community Alignment Center (CAC). The CAC accepted the resignations of CEO Ryu, CFO Jang, and CBO Lee, and recommended that the remaining five people, including CEO Shin, remain in the company to receive new trust.
In this regard, CEO Shin said on the same day, “The executives were right because they thought that shareholder value would be protected when an over-the-counter block deal was traded. There was an error of judgment in not fully recognizing that it would be brought in.”
The stock price of Kakao Pay, which has fallen since the announcement of the stake sale, stood at 140,000 won as of the closing price of the day. In order to restore trust, CEO Shin said that he would receive only the minimum wage as wages without receiving compensation such as salary or incentives until the company’s stock price reaches 200,000 won. In addition, the company plans to actively promote ESG (environmental, social, and governance) management and social contribution activities. CEO Shin said in a message posted on the next brunch post after taking office on the same day, “I will go back to the beginning and look at the things that I have not been able to take care of for growth and sometimes pretend not to know.”
Reporter Hwang In-joo
