Bom Kim
Bom Kim | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1978 Seoul, South Korea |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Coupang |
Kim Beomseok (; born October 7, 1978), widely recognized as Bom Kim, is a South Korean-born American entrepreneur and the founder as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Coupang, the largest e-commerce platform in South Korea.[1][2] Following a $2 billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund in 2018 that placed Coupang’s valuation at $9 billion, Kim became the second-youngest billionaire in South Korea at age 40. As of November 2024, his estimated net worth stands at $4.3 billion.[3]
Early life
Kim was born in Seoul on October 7, 1978, and relocated to the United States with his family when he was seven years old.[4] He attended Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, where he was active in varsity wrestling and track and field.[5] Kim completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard College and briefly enrolled at Harvard Business School, leaving during his second semester.[3]
Prior to establishing Coupang, Kim gained experience interning at The New Republic, initiated a student publication called Current, and had a short tenure at Boston Consulting Group. He went on to create the magazine 02138, named after Harvard’s postal code, securing $4 million in funding. After 02138 ceased operations, he shifted focus to launching Coupang.[6]
Coupang
In 2010, Kim launched Coupang, successfully raising upwards of $3.8 billion in venture capital from prominent investors such as Sequoia Capital, Softbank, and BlackRock. The company began as a Groupon-style deal platform but transformed into a comprehensive online retail business supported by its proprietary logistics network known as Rocket Delivery. By 2018, Coupang achieved annual revenues of 2.7 trillion won despite recording cumulative losses of 1.7 trillion won between 2015 and 2017. By 2019, it served more than 3.5 million active users daily.
Currently, Coupang employs over 40,000 individuals with offices located in Seoul, Taipei, Singapore,[7] Shanghai, Beijing, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Silicon Valley.[8]
Personal life
Kim lives in Seoul, South Korea, with his spouse and their two children.
- ↑ Palmer, Annie (2020-06-16). "Coupang, a SoftBank-backed start-up, is crushing Amazon to become South Korea's biggest online retailer". CNBC.
- ↑ Chung, Gracs (2018-11-20). "Coupang, Korea's Answer to Amazon, Raises $2 Billion, Mints New Billionaire". Forbes.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedForbes profile - ↑ "Coupang: Harvard dropout rockets into mega-billionaire's club". BBC News. 2021-03-12.
- ↑ Deerfield Academy https://deerfield.edu/students/news/2017/03/south-korea-6-an-exciting-visit-with-with-bom-kim-96-ceo-of-coupang/10245310/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/coupang-ceo-bom-kim-pivot-interview-2018-12.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 쿠팡 해외 첫 진출국은 '싱가포르'. IT Chosun. April 12, 2021.
- ↑ "Coupang highlights creativity, openness in its new office". The Korea Herald. November 19, 2017.