NEXON pays tribute to Kim Jung
Nexon published a statement informing us of the “unexpected death” of its founder Kim Jung-Ju. Also called Jay Kim, the Philanthrope businessman had founded the Korean studio in 1994 and left his 2011 direction. Married and father of two daughters, he died in Hawaii at the age of 54.
“_It is difficult to express the tragedy of the loss of our friend and Mentor Jay Kim, a man who has had an immeasurable positive impact on the world. As a founder and a visionary leader, Jay encouraged those around him to Ignore the skeptics and trust their creative instinct. He will be deeply regretted by his Nexon family and his many friends, “said Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon.
“_Please apologize for not being able to give detailed explanations because all members of his family are devastated. The deceased had followed a treatment against depression, and unfortunately it seems that the situation had aggravated recently,”, commented on a Jay Kim Holding spokesman at the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Jay Kim founded Nexon in 1994 and accompanied the beginnings of what has become a giant of Asian video game thanks to his worlds online with titles like The Kingdom of the Winds, Maplestory, Kartrider, Mabinogi and of course Dungeon Fighter. Jay Kim had left Nexon’s presidency during his IPO in 2011, while remaining the representative of his parent company, the Holding NXC Corporation. Not present in the media, he had concentrated on his philanthropic activities.
Between 2013 and 2015, his company donated 20 billion won (15 million euros) to build the Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital of the Purme Nexon Foundation, which opened in 2016 in Seoul. Last December, Jay Kim was cited in the Heroes of the Philanthropy of Forbes Asia for his donations to two children’s hospitals. He gave 3.8 billion won (2.8 million euros) to Chung-Nam Children’s Public Rehabilitation Hospital and 2.5 billion won (1.8 million euros) in the framework From the creation of Nexon’s Children’s Palliative Care Center at the National University of Seoul Hospital.
“_Sa Philanthropy has affected millions of young people and includes major contributions in the field of health and education.”, Pays tribute the release of Nexon. Last year, Forbes had estimated Jay Kim’s personal fortune at $ 10.9 billion, making him the 3rd richest man in Korea. Its fortune had doubled at the time to bring Nexon to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and not Seoul in 2011. Nexon was valued at $ 1.2 billion, compared to $ 20 billion today.
In 2021, Nexon realized a turnover of 2.1 billion euros and a net profit of 901 million euros, mainly thanks to the Korean and Chinese markets. Still mainly anchored on PC and Mobile, the group of 6,700 employees gradually advances to consoles with titles like DNF Duel, Kartrider Drift and Arc Raiders, the latter being the first game of its Swedish studio Embark Studios.