[Featured Stock] KakaoPay Executives Gain 89.9 Billion KRW Profit... Stock Price 'Plummets'

Participants are taking a commemorative photo at the Kakao Pay KOSPI listing ceremony held at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] As Kakao Pay was decided to be included in the KOSPI 200 on the 25th of last month, expectations grew due to the inflow of passive funds on the 10th. However, the management, including CEO Ryu Young-jun of Kakao Pay, sold a large number of shares, securing a profit of 89.9 billion KRW. As a result, shareholders' anxiety increased, and Kakao Pay's stock price fell by as much as 7.19% at one point on that day.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 10th, CEO Ryu Young-jun recently disposed of all 230,000 shares of the company through off-hours trading. The disposal price was 204,017 KRW per share, earning approximately 46.923 billion KRW.

It was not only CEO Ryu. Na Ho-yeol, Vice President of Technology (35,800 shares), Shin Won-geun, Chief Strategy Officer (30,000 shares), Lee Ji-hong, Vice President of Brand (30,000 shares), Lee Jin, Vice President of Business (75,193 shares), Jang Ki-joo, Vice President of Management Planning (30,000 shares), Jeon Hyun-sung, Head of Management Support (5,000 shares), and Lee Seung-hyo, Vice President of Service (5,000 shares) also sold Kakao Pay shares.

The total number of Kakao Pay shares they disposed of was 440,993 shares. When converted to amount, it reached 89.946 billion KRW. The disposal price was the same at 204,017 KRW for all except Vice President Lee Jin, whose price was 203,704 KRW.

Kakao Pay's stock price surged sharply by 18.31% in one day on the 25th of last month following the decision to be included in the KOSPI 200, but then experienced a slight decline as the lock-up shares (released on the 3rd) were freed.