Eldest Son CEO Kim Dong-jun, Largest Shareholder at Emoney Co., Ltd. at the Top of Group's Governance Structure
Emoney Co., Ltd. → Daou Data → Daou Technology → Kiwoom Securities Chain Continues
Following the recent plunge triggered by SG Securities and the ensuing suspicions of stock price manipulation, the Financial Supervisory Service has launched a surprise inspection targeting Kiwoom Securities in relation to Contracts for Difference (CFD), which have been cited as the epicenter of the incident. Kiwoom Securities, which has attracted public attention amid this stock price crash, is a key affiliate of the Daou Kiwoom Group.
The Daou Kiwoom Group was founded in 1986 when Chairman Kim Ik-rae, the founder, established Daou Technology. Subsequently, Daou Data was established in 1992, Daou Exsilicon in 1997, and Daou Internet in 1999. Starting as an IT company, the group ventured into finance after founding Kiwoom Securities in 2000.
The Daou Kiwoom Group’s governance structure follows the chain: 'Emoney Co., Ltd. → Daou Data → Daou Technology → Kiwoom Securities → Kiwoom Investment.' The Kim family holds 66.91% of Daou Data’s shares. The share distribution of Daou Data is as follows: Emoney Co., Ltd. (31.56%), Chairman Kim Ik-rae (26.66%), eldest son Kim Dong-jun (6.53%), eldest daughter Kim Jin-hyun (1.04%), second daughter Kim Jin-i (1.04%), and Kim Hyung-joo (0.08%). The largest shareholder of Emoney Co., Ltd. is Kim Dong-jun (33.13%).
Daou Data holds 45.02% of Daou Technology’s shares, and Daou Technology holds 41.2% of Kiwoom Securities’ shares. Kiwoom Securities owns shares in Kiwoom Investment (98.04%) and Kiwoom Private Equity (40%), both led by eldest son Kim Dong-jun as CEO.
Share Succession of Daou Data through Paid-in Capital Increase and Gifts
Chairman Kim Ik-rae has been conducting succession work over several years. He has one son and two daughters. The eldest daughter, Kim Jin-hyun, does not participate in management, while the second daughter Kim Jin-i and eldest son Kim Dong-jun have been receiving management training at group affiliates since the 2010s.
In 2016, Kim Dong-jun initially acquired 1.3 million shares of Daou Data through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase. The acquisition price was 10,700 KRW per share, totaling approximately 13.9 billion KRW. At the same time, Emoney Co., Ltd. also acquired the same number of shares through a paid-in capital increase. The largest shareholder of Emoney Co., Ltd. is Kim Dong-jun.
On October 28, 2021, Chairman Kim Ik-rae gifted a total of 2 million shares (5.22%) to his children, changing the largest shareholder of Daou Data from Kim Ik-rae to Emoney Co., Ltd. The gifted shares were allocated as follows: Kim Dong-jun 1.2 million shares (3.13%), Kim Jin-hyun 400,000 shares (1.04%), and Kim Jin-i 400,000 shares (1.04%). Based on the closing price of 13,400 KRW on October 28, Kim Dong-jun received shares worth approximately 16.1 billion KRW as a gift.
Emoney Co., Ltd. at the Apex of Group Governance
Emoney Co., Ltd., at the top of the group’s governance structure, was spun off in 2003 from the financial business division of Daou Internet. Emoney operates businesses including real-time broadcasting solutions, financial data analysis, RMS operations, and securities information provision.
In 2022, Emoney acquired virtual currency worth 1.5 billion KRW but recorded impairment losses of 1.1 billion KRW. Last year, dividend income was 3.9 billion KRW, exceeding operating profit (3.2 billion KRW). Most of this dividend income was received from Daou Data. Currently, Emoney’s shareholding status is Kim Dong-jun 33.13%, Kim Jin-i 6.02%, Kim Jin-hyun 6.02%, and treasury stock 54.82%.
Emoney began acquiring Daou Data shares in 2009. At that time, the largest shareholder of Emoney was Chairman Kim Ik-rae (85.29%). In 2011, the largest shareholder changed to Kim Dong-jun.
Emoney steadily purchased Daou Data shares. The shareholding ratio, which was only 10.15% at the end of 2013, increased to 31.56% by the end of last year. During the stock price decline caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Chairman Kim Ik-rae sold Daou Data shares intensively to Emoney.
In March and April 2020, approximately 2.24 million shares were transferred through off-hours trading, accounting for 5.85% of the issued shares. The Daou Data stock prices at that time were 8,090 KRW on February 19, 2020, 5,290 KRW on March 23, 2020, and 7,650 KRW on April 20, 2020.
Considering that Emoney is a company owned by Chairman Kim’s children, including eldest son Kim Dong-jun, it appears that at the time of the Daou Data stock price crash, Chairman Kim incurred losses from selling shares but effectively gifted them to his children. The largest shareholder of Emoney is eldest son Kim Dong-jun (33.13%), indicating that the succession process is virtually complete.
Mysterious Second Generation Kim Dong-jun, Concurrent CEO of Kiwoom Investment and Kiwoom PE
In the financial investment industry, the face of Daou Kiwoom Group’s eldest son Kim Dong-jun is shrouded in mystery. It is said that capturing a photo of him would be a scoop. Kim Dong-jun concurrently serves as CEO of Kiwoom Investment and Kiwoom PE. Born in 1984, CEO Kim graduated from Monta Vista High School in the United States and earned a degree in accounting from the University of Southern California, followed by a master’s degree in business administration from Cornell University.
He began his career in 2009 at Samil Accounting Corporation. After working at Saramin HR in 2011, he joined Daou Kiwoom Group in 2014 as deputy general manager of the business planning team at Daou Technology. He was promoted to director of Daou Technology in 2016, managing director of Daou Data in 2017, and executive director of Daou Data in 2018. Since March 2018, he has served as CEO of Kiwoom Investment and has concurrently held the CEO position at Kiwoom PE since 2020. CEO Kim Dong-jun holds 33.13% of Emoney’s shares, 6.53% of Daou Data, and 0.88% of Kidari Studio.
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