Kakao Appoints Doyoung Kim, Kakao X CEO Nominee, as Co-Chair of CA Council

A Dual Leadership of Doyoung Kim and Shina Jung at the CA Council
Joint Decision-Making on Key Matters Prior to the Spin-Off

With the upcoming spin-off, Kakao is moving to prepare for a group-wide transition by appointing Doyoung Kim, the nominated CEO of Kakao X, as Co-Chair of the Kakao CA Council.

On September 28, Kakao Group announced that it has convened its group council and appointed Doyoung Kim (who is also CEO of Kakao Investment and Head of Group Investment Strategy at the Kakao CA Council) as Co-Chair of the CA Council. He will lead the CA Council—the group’s control tower—together with Shinah Jung, who has been nominated as CEO of Kakao AI.

Kakao Pangyo Agit, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Kim holds a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA from Seoul National University. He began his career in 2001 as a senior consultant at Samsung SDS before moving to Samsung Securities, where he served as Executive Director of the Investment Banking Division. From 2022 to last year, he was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Kolon Mobility Group. Last year, he became CEO of Kakao Investment and additionally took on the role of Head of Group Investment Strategy for the Kakao CA Council.

This decision, according to Kakao, was made to ensure continuity in key decision-making and to enhance organizational stability ahead of the spin-off. By the end of this year, Kakao plans to proceed with a spin-off into Kakao AI, which will oversee AI and platform businesses, and Kakao X, which will be responsible for managing affiliates and future investments. The two Co-Chairs will jointly make key decisions until the spin-off is completed, and play roles in coordinating and executing group-wide strategies.

A Kakao spokesperson stated, "The new co-chair system is intended to ensure continuity at the group level and enable systematic execution during this important transition period leading up to the spin-off," adding, "Kakao will closely manage the spin-off preparations with task forces (TFs) for each domain and make every effort to ensure a stable transition."

Meanwhile, Kakao is in the process of establishing task forces including key departments such as technology, finance, and HR to review various operational tasks required for the spin-off. The company is also conducting offline briefings and has created dedicated channels for ongoing Q&A to facilitate communication with employees (referred to as 'crew').

Doyoung Kim, Co-Chair of the Kakao CA Council and Nominee for CEO of Kakao X. Kakao

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.