[Digital Daily Correspondent Choi Min] Employees of Naver and Kakao received billions of dollars in annual salary last year. Even the average salary increased by double digits compared to the previous year. “Stock options” worked. In a growing company, stock options are a positive motivator for not only management but also employees.
According to the business report published by Kakao on the 21st, last year, Kakao employees received an average of 172 million won. This is a 59% increase compared to the previous years 180 million won, exceeding the average salary of Naver employees last year.
The reason is stock options. The total amount of Kakaos annual salary and bonuses, excluding stock option exercise gains, is 268.61 billion won, and the average salary per person calculated based on this is 89 million won. Its less than $1 billion.
However, Kakao employees were able to increase their salaries through the exercise of stock options. Male employees received an average annual salary of over 200 million won last year, including the exercise of stock options. Before the exercise of stock options, the average annual salary for men is 99 million won. For female employees, the average salary is 74 million won, and the average salary after exercising the stock option is 180 million won. The reason why male employees salaries are high should also be taken into account that there are many men in high-paid development jobs.
Kakao said, “There is no difference between men and women in calculating remuneration or any other system is being operated. Excluding the gains from exercise of stock options, the females ‧males salary ratio is about 75%.”
Although Kakaos share price has been on the decline since last year, it is also true that it has grown rapidly in recent years and raised its share price. Last year, the stock price rose to around 170,000 won. As the stock price rose along with the growth of Kakao, employees made a huge profit when they exercised stock options.
Kakao executives saw the stock option benefit more significantly. Shin Jeong-hwan, former chief technology officer, won a whopping 12,874 billion won through stock option exercise. As a result of the stock option exercise, Kakao Chief Investment Officer Bae Jae-hyun received 7.65 billion won, Kwon Seung-jo, former head of intellectual property division, received 5.68 billion won, Ahn Seong-jin, former M business strategy advisor, 56.99 billion won, and Nam Goong-hoon, 6,86 billion won. profited from
The average salary of Naver employees also increased. Last year, the average salary per employee of Naver was 129.15 million won per person. This is a 26% increase from the previous years 12.48 million won.
The stock grant program had a positive effect on salary increases. This program is a special reward for sharing with employees the achievements of company growth. Unlike stock options, they can be sold immediately and turned into cash, and there is no obligation to disclose them.
In this regard, Naver provides 10 million won worth of stocks to all its employees every year. Last year, the company also operated a treasury stock repurchase reward program, in which employees receive up to 10% of cash back with a limit of 20 million won per year. Naver also faced a decline in its share price, but it rose to 460,000 won last year, proving its growth.
As such, Naver and Kakao have rapidly grown into Koreas leading Internet & #8231; platform companies, and have used stock options to motivate their employees to work in the company. In fact, it is explained that not only are employees more free from disclosure obligations than executives, but also exercise stock options are more convenient than traditional companies in terms of corporate culture.
Meanwhile, the number of Naver employees last year was 4,678, including 152 fixed-term workers, up 14% from the previous years 4076. Last year, the number of Kakao employees totaled 3,303, including 169 fixed-term workers, up 16% from the previous years 2,837.
