Song Chi-hyung
Song Chi-hyung | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day Gongju, South Korea |
| Occupation | Business leader |
| Known for | Founder and chairman of Dunamu |
Song Chi-hyung (; born September 1979) is a South Korean business leader and the founder and chairman of Dunamu, a financial technology firm that manages the cryptocurrency trading platform Upbit. As of July 2025, Forbes estimates his net worth at .
Early life and education
Song was born in September 1979 in Gongju, South Korea. He completed his secondary education at Chungnam Science High School before enrolling at Seoul National University in 1998, where he obtained bachelor's degrees in both computer science and economics.
Career
Prior to establishing Dunamu in 2012, Song gained experience working for the mobile payments company Danal and the consulting firm Innomove. Dunamu initially concentrated on developing an e-book service and the news aggregation platform Newsmate. In 2017, the company introduced its cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit. That same year, Song transitioned from his role as CEO to take on the position of chairman.
In 2018, Forbes appraised his cryptocurrency assets to be between $350 million and $500 million; however, Song publicly declared that his personal holdings were below 1 million Korean won (roughly $800 USD). During that year, allegations were made against Song and Upbit executives concerning the manipulation of trading volumes and misappropriation of funds. Upbit denied these accusations, and in 2023, the Supreme Court of Korea cleared Song of all charges.
In 2021, Hybe Corporation purchased a 2.5% share in Dunamu, which placed the company's valuation at $17 billion.