Michael Kim headshot

Michael ByungJu Kim

Founder & Chair, MBK Partners (South Korea)

Michael ByungJu Kim is a founder and chair of MBK Partners. Prior to MBK Partners, he was President of Carlyle Asia Partners, responsible for overseeing Carlyle’s buyout activities in the Asia Pacific region (outside of Japan). Mr. Kim was also a member of The Carlyle Group’s Management Committee. Before Carlyle, Mr. Kim was Managing Director and COO of Asia Pacific Investment Banking for Salomon Smith Barney and an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs & Co. He has a BA with Honours from Haverford College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was also a Fulbright Scholar.

Mr. Kim is chairman of the boards of Haverford College and the MBK Scholarship Foundation.  He has served or serves on the boards of trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the New York Public Library, Harvard Business School and Temasek Philanthropy Asia Alliance.

Mr. Kim has been named one of Bloomberg's “50 Most Influential People in the World,” CKA’s “Philanthropist of the Year” and Forbes’ “Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy.” He is the author of the national bestselling novel, Offerings.”