Jeong Sina, Current CEO, Received 600 Million KRW
Average Salary Per Employee: 100 Million KRW
Former Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek received a total of 3.089 billion KRW last year, including severance pay and performance bonuses.
According to the business report disclosed by Kakao on the 18th, among the top five executives in terms of compensation last year, former CEO Hong Eun-taek recorded the highest amount at 3.089 billion KRW. This included a salary of 1.018 billion KRW, bonuses of 1.342 billion KRW, other labor income of 11 million KRW, and retirement income of 718 million KRW. Even after stepping down in March last year, Hong continued to receive a salary under an advisory contract. He was awarded long-term performance bonuses in recognition of achievements such as reaching 13 million daily active users (DAU) on the KakaoTalk Open Chat tab, securing 300,000 channels with over 1,000 friends, and improving revenue structure through the introduction of Bizboard CPT (Cost Per Time) advertising.
Current CEO Jeong Sin-ah received a total of 613 million KRW last year, including a salary of 609 million KRW and other income of 4 million KRW. Jeong, who took office in March 2024, did not receive any bonuses or stock option exercise gains in 2023 due to lack of performance.
Former Melon CIC (Company-In-Company) CEO Lee Jin-soo ranked second with 1.543 billion KRW (salary of 36 million KRW and stock option exercise gains of 1.057 billion KRW), and former Strategy Group Head Shin Min-gyun ranked third with 1.323 billion KRW (including stock option exercise gains of 581 million KRW and severance pay of 321 million KRW).
Notably, technical executives received high salaries. Lee Chae-young, Technical Strategy Performance Leader, ranked fourth with 1.143 billion KRW (salary of 312 million KRW, bonuses of 115 million KRW, and stock option exercise gains of 716 million KRW), receiving high compensation in recognition of Kakao’s technology and service improvements.
Former AI Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Performance Leader Gong Yong-jun also ranked fifth with 1.107 billion KRW (salary of 273 million KRW, bonuses of 52 million KRW, stock option exercise gains of 615 million KRW, and severance pay of 207 million KRW), acknowledged for achievements in AI technology and service improvements.
Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, Head of the Future Initiative Center, was not included in the top five earners and thus his compensation was not disclosed. He recently stepped down as co-chairman of the group’s 'control tower' CA council and withdrew from frontline management. However, in the first half of last year, he received 751 million KRW and was among the top five earners at that time.
As of the end of 2024, Kakao had 4,028 employees (including fixed-term workers), with a total annual salary amount including stock option exercise gains of approximately 409.478 billion KRW, and an average salary per person of 102 million KRW.
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