Michael Kim (businessman)

This article is about the MBK Partners founder. For the Head of Google for Startups APAC, see Mike Kim (executive).
Michael Kim
Born
Kim Byungju

October 1963 (age 62)
Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Other namesMichael ByungJu Kim
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationHaverford College
Harvard Business School (MBA)
OccupationsFounder, MBK Partners, Philanthropist
SpousePark Kyung-ah
Children2
Korean name
Hangul
김병주
Hanja
金秉奏
[1]
RRGim Byeongju
MRKim Pyŏngju

Michael ByungJu Kim (Korean: 김병주, born 1963) is an American billionaire businessman of South Korean origin.[2][3] He is the founder and chairman of MBK Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. He has been called the "godfather of Asian private equity".[4][5]

He has been named one of Bloomberg's 50 most influential people[6] in the world and Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy.[7] According to Forbes, Kim had a net worth of $9.6 billion[8] as of April 2023, ranking him the richest person in South Korea and #190 in the world.

Early life

Michael B. Kim was born in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea in 1963.[9]

Career

Kim began his career as a mergers and acquisitions banker at Goldman Sachs after completing his MBA at Harvard. In 1995, he joined Salomon Smith Barney, where he became a managing director and COO of Asia-Pacific Investment Banking. He later joined the Carlyle Group as a president of Carlyle Asia until 2005.[3]

Kim left Carlyle to found MBK Partners in 2005, which has since grown to over $30 billion in assets under management,[10] raising $6.5 billion for its most recent Fund V, becoming the largest independent private equity firm in Asia.[11] MBK Partners was named one of Time's World's Best Companies of 2024.[12]

Kim has broken several records in the South Korean market. His takeover of ING Korea and listing on the market, was the first time a private-equity owned company listed on exchanges in South Korea.[13]In Japan, Kim and MBK acquired Godiva Japan in one of the largest deals in the consumer sector in Japan's history.[14]

Kim chairs the Haverford College board of managers, as well as the MBK Scholarship Foundation.[15] He has been on the boards of KorAm Bank, China Network Systems, Yayoi, C&M, Tasaki, Universal Studios Japan, Coway, ING Life Korea, Homeplus, RAND Corporation,[16] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[17] New York Public Library,[18] Carnegie Hall,[19] Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council[20] and Temasek Philanthropy Asia Alliance.[21]

Kim is the author of a novel, Offerings, published in 2020.[22]

In September 2022, The Chosun Daily alleged Kim paid 40 billion won in taxes and penalties related to overseas tax evasion.[23] This issue was reportedly associated with untaxed income from the sale of ING Life Insurance in 2018. According to another local paper, Kim's company denied the accusations as "groundless and stated that both Kim and the Company paid all due taxes."[24][25] In October 2025, Kim again faced allegations of tax evasion during an audit by the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee. Lawmakers claimed that "Kim [had] earned significant profits domestically while paying little to no taxes", and called for a tax investigation; MBK denied the allegations, saying it had fully complied with Korean laws.[26]

Philanthropy

In 2010, Kim pledged $7.5 million toward the construction of a new dormitory at Haverford College.[27] The dorm was named "Kim" in honor of his father, Kim Ki Yong.[15]

In August 2021, Kim pledged KRW30 billion ($27 million) to the Seoul Metropolitan Government to build a public library in Seoul. Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced Seoul would honor the gift by naming the library after the donor, The Seoul Public Kim ByungJu Library. The gift was reported to represent the first-ever donation by an individual for the construction of a civic institution in Seoul.[28]

In December 2021, Kim was named to Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy list.[29] In December 2022, he was named to the Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy list again.[30]

In September 2022, Kim donated $10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The museum stated they would name a gallery after Kim and his wife, the Michael B. Kim and Kyung Ah Park gallery. This would be the first gallery in the museum to be named after a person of Korean descent.[31]

In April 2024, Haverford announced that Kim was donating $25 million to the college (equal to the largest single gift the school had ever received) to establish an Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership and to fund related faculty positions.[32][33]

Personal life

Kim is married to Park Kyung-ah, the daughter of the late South Korean Prime Minister Park Tae-joon.[10] Her father was founder of POSCO, the largest steel company in South Korea. The couple have two children and live in Seoul.[10]

Honors and recognition

  • 2013, Awarded Asian Venture Capital Journal's “Private Equity Professional of the Year”[34]
  • 2017, Awarded “Philanthropist of the Year” by the Council of Korean Americans[35]
  • 2015, Named one of Bloomberg Markets “The 50 Most Influential”[36]
  • 2021, Named one of Forbes’ “Asia’s 2021 Heroes of Philanthropy”[37]
  • 2022, Named one of Forbes’ “Asia’s 2022 Heroes of Philanthropy”[38]
  • 2024, Voted “Most Influential in Korea’s Capital Market” by Market Insight[39]
  • 2024, Elected Chair of the Haverford College Board of Managers[40][41]
  • 2024 Named one of Forbes’ “Asia’s 2024 Heroes of Philanthropy”[42]

References

  1. ^ "美금융업체 칼라일그룹 한국에 10억弗투자 추진". Munhwa Ilbo. 29 May 1999. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  2. ^ "MBK chief Michael ByungJu Kim avoids arrest, but legal proceedings remain". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2026-01-14. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
  3. ^ a b Lee, Yoolim; Chan, Cathy (4 February 2015). "Korea's Michael Kim Leads Buyout Surge as Foreign Firms Return". Bloomberg News.
  4. ^ Horne, Jackie. "Michael Kim: Godfather of Asian private equity". FinanceAsia.
  5. ^ Davies, Christian (18 August 2022). "How South Korea learned to love private equity". Financial Times.
  6. ^ "Power, Money, and Ideas: Bloomberg Markets 50 Most Influential People". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
  7. ^ Watson, Rana Wehbe. "Asia's 2022 Heroes Of Philanthropy". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  8. ^ Kang, John. "Korea's 50 Richest 2023: Combined Wealth Falls For The Second Year, Private Equity Billionaire Michael Kim Tops Rankings". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  9. ^ "MBK 사람들…'강력한 1인' 김병주와 화려한 참모". Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). 12 December 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Forbes profile: Michael Kim". Forbes. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  11. ^ "South Korea's MBK Partners raises $4.1b for its fourth fund". www.dealstreetasia.com.
  12. ^ "World's Best Companies of 2024". TIME. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  13. ^ "UPDATE 1-ING Life Insurance Korea raises $974 mln after pricing IPO..." U.S. 24 April 2017 – via Reuters.
  14. ^ "Chocolatier Godiva to sell Asian-Pacific operations to MBK Partners". 20 February 2019 – via Reuters.
  15. ^ a b Choi, Jasmine (2024-04-30). "Michael ByungJu Kim Donates US$25 Million to Alma Mater Haverford College". Businesskorea (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  16. ^ "Annual Report 2003" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  17. ^ "Michael ByungJu Kim Elected Metropolitan Museum Trustee - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. 9 October 2017.
  18. ^ "New York Public Library Board of Trustees". www.nypl.org.
  19. ^ "Board of Trustees". www.carnegiehall.org.
  20. ^ Canada, Asia Pacific Foundation of. "Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council". Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  21. ^ "About Us". PAA. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  22. ^ Kim, Michael Byung Ju (24 March 2020). Offerings : a novel. New York. ISBN 978-1-950691-62-3. OCLC 1132243427.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ "MBK Partners Chief Pays W40 Billion Tax Penalty for Overseas Tax Evasion and Avoids Criminal Prosecution". The Chosun Daily (in Korean). 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  24. ^ 한, 희연 (2020-12-08). "MBK파트너스, 김병주 회장 탈세의혹 '사실무근'". 더벨뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-21.
  25. ^ 정, 민하 (2020-12-08). "MBK파트너스 "김병주 MBK회장 탈세 의혹, 사실과 달라"". ChosunBiz (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-21 – via Naver News.
  26. ^ Jun Ji-hye (October 17, 2025). "MBK rejects tax evasion allegations against chairman". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  27. ^ "Haverford To Build Another New Dorm". 3 October 2010.
  28. ^ "Michael ByungJu Kim Donates KRW 30 Bn to Build Public Library in Seoul".
  29. ^ Watson, Rana Wehbe. "ASIA'S 2021 HEROES OF PHILANTHROPY". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  30. ^ Watson, Rana Wehbe. "ASIA'S 2022 HEROES OF PHILANTHROPY". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  31. ^ "MBK Partners chairman donates $10 million to the Met". 7 September 2022.
  32. ^ "Transformative $25 Million Gift From Michael B. Kim '85 to Establish Haverford's Institute for Ethical Inquiry and Leadership". Haverford College. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  33. ^ Snyder, Susan (April 24, 2024). "Haverford College is getting $25 million from 'the godfather of Asian private equity' for an institute on ethics". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Asia Awards: PE Professional of the Year - Michael Kim | AVCJ". www.avcj.com. 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  35. ^ 기자, 박노경 (2017-10-23). "차세대 정치력 신장에 CKA 역할 기대". Manna 24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  36. ^ "Power, Money, and Ideas: Bloomberg Markets 50 Most Influential People". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  37. ^ Watson, Rana Wehbe. "ASIA'S 2021 HEROES OF PHILANTHROPY". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  38. ^ Watson, Rana Wehbe. "Asia's 2022 Heroes Of Philanthropy". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  39. ^ Global, K. E. D. "MBK's Michael ByungJu Kim: Most influential in Korea's capital market". KED Global. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  40. ^ "Board of Managers". www.haverford.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  41. ^ "Michael Kim '85 Appointed Chair of Haverford's Board of Managers". www.haverford.edu. 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  42. ^ Watson, Rana Wehbe. "Forbes Asia's 2024 Heroes Of Philanthropy". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
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