The billionaire founder of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp (035720.KS), opens new tab, Kim Beom-su was arrested on Tuesday on accusations of manipulating stocks during the acquisition of a K-Pop agency last year.
The case is the latest legal twist for Kakao, which runs South Korea’s largest chat app, after the company and another executive went on trial last year for alleged wrongdoing during the same acquisition.
Kim, who is also known as Brian Kim, is seen as a visionary in South Korea’s digital industry for building Kakao’s group of affiliates – worth 86 trillion won ($62 billion) by assets – from the ground up since launching the chat app in 2010.
Any case against him could jeopardise Kakao’s investments into artificial intelligence as well as its overseas expansion plans, industry experts said.
Prosecutors say Kim was involved in manipulating the stock price of SM Entertainment (041510.KQ), opens new tab in February last year to hinder a competitor, Hybe (352820.KS), opens new tab, from acquiring it.
