Netmarble founder urges South Korea to support startups
Seoul
WHEN mobile gaming firm Netmarble Games debuts on Friday, its founder Bang Jun-hyuk will be the only billionaire in South Korea's top-10 wealthiest stock holders with no ties to the chaebol, the mainly family-owned industrial conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Mr Bang's is a rare Korean rags-to-riches story, and the high-school dropout with two business failures on his resume wants the state to revive support for startup companies and nurture a new crop of businesses as an alternative to the economy's dependence on the industrial might of groups including Samsung and Hyundai.
Leading candidates in …
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Consumer & Healthcare
Japan’s 7-Eleven convenience chain targets aggressive global growth
Bubble tea maker Chabaidao slumps 10% in Hong Kong’s biggest 2024 debut
Parental fury after stem cell bank ruins thousands of samples in Singapore
China’s bubble tea boom creates a half-dozen billionaires
US sues to block Coach owner’s US$8.5 billion buyout of Versace parent
Cutting the cord?: Events leading up to Cordlife’s MOH suspension and arrests of its directors, ex-group CEO