Today is the second class of our current four-class set. We will start class with a casual conversation. Our reading will focus on the companies of the 50 wealthiest people in Korea.

Forbes published a 2019 50 Wealthiest Koreans list. I want to look at the individuals and their companies. I think this will give you a better understanding of industry in Korea. Number 47 on the Forbes list is Chang Byung-gyu.

• Chang Byung-gyu is chairman of online gaming company Krafton (formerly known as Bluehole), which he founded in 2007.

• In 2018 Tencent invested more than $500 million in the company for a 10% stake, catapulting Bluehole to unicorn status overnight.

• Its shooter game, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, broke a world record in 2017 after posting $100 million in pre-release sales in just 79 days.

• Chang and his wife hold a combined stake of nearly 20% in Krafton.

For our listening material, we will go back to some NPR stories. Let’s try without transcripts. Listen carefully and ask your questions in class. We will continue with unit 3 in our grammar book.

Click HERE for the reading