QUIET RAINMAKER

WITH LITTLE FANFARE, BUYOUT BILLIONAIRE MICHAEL KIM CLOSED HIS LARGEST FUND AMID THE PANDEMIC. HE’S NOW READY TO MAKE DEALS.

- GRACE CHUNG

When Korean private equity maven Michael Kim, founder of MBK Partners, launched a new fund last November, little could he have imagined that the world was on the cusp of a once-in-a-century pandemic.

But in crisis lies opportunity. When much of the world was still under lockdown, Kim closed MBK’s fifth and largest fund in May—raising $6.5 billion in just six months. Secured amid an environment that has upended the global economy, the fund is Asia’s largest to close thus far this year.

With this accomplishment, Kim bucked the trend in fundraising for Asia-based private equity firms, which is down two consecutive years, according to McKinsey. The pandemic, ironically, helped Kim reach part of his original target. Investors bought into his thesis that pandemic linked economic distress would create new opportunities. “We are now sitting on the largest pile of deployable dollars [of any Asia-based buyout fund] just as the market opens up for a golden opportunity,” he says in a video interview from his New York condo overlooking Central Park.

With this latest fund, Seoul-based MBK Partners now manages more than $22 billion in assets across Greater China, Japan and South Korea, making it the largest Asia-based private equity firm (by assets) focused primarily on buyouts. Kim has an enviable track record: since its founding in 2005, MBK Partners has, on average, more than doubled every dollar from investors and had an annualized IRR of 18% across its four funds. This success has translated to handsome personal gains: with the new fund, he now has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion, propelling him up 11 spots to No. 12 on the annual list of Korea’s 50 Richest.