Facing pressure, Kakao billionaire to jettison decade-old model

A Kakao Friends flagship store in the Hongdae district of Seoul, South Korea. The concessions follow months of scrutiny over the growing role that Kakao and fellow Internet giants like Naver Corp play in Korea’s economy, particularly how their expanding portfolio of platforms from taxi services to hair-care reservations and flower delivery are beginning to squeeze privately owned businesses. — Bloomberg

Kakao Corp founder Brian Kim promised to abandon the high-growth model that created Korea’s Internet leader, responding to a furore over how his social media platform is abusing its dominance as “a symbol of greed”.

The billionaire entrepreneur who built Korea’s largest messaging, online finance and ride-hailing services on Tuesday pledged 300bil won (US$256mil or RM1.06bil) to help smaller merchants and to evaluate getting out of businesses that compete with mom-and-pop shops. K Cube Holdings, Kim’s wholly owned investment firm and Kakao’s de facto holding entity, will switch tack and focus on creating “social value” in areas such as education.