[Exclusive] "Reinvesting what we earned from SpaceX"…Park Hyeon-ju’s ₩28 trillion all-in bet

To be used to acquire global financial firms and exchanges

Bold investment using $20 billion from five years of Mirae Asset Group operating profit and proceeds from SpaceX and xAI exits

Personally overseeing M&A worldwide…setting up a VC in San Francisco, expanding investment in innovative AI companies in the US, China and Korea

Acquired crypto exchange Korbit; also succeeded in issuing Asia’s first digital bond…leaping into a ‘digital assets group’

"We will reinvest the money earned from investments in SpaceX and xAI into global M&A."

Park Hyeon-ju, chairman of Mirae Asset Group (pictured), said in an interview with The Korea Economic Daily on the 29th, “If you add up operating profit to be accumulated over the next five years and investment exit proceeds, it comes to about $20 billion (about ₩28.5 trillion),” adding, “We will deploy it boldly into future growth engines.”

Since early this year, Park has been traveling to group affiliates around the world—including China, Singapore, Australia and the US—personally managing M&A (mergers and acquisitions) deals. On the 30th, he plans to send a New Year message to all executives and employees, including affiliate staff, from Australia, outlining the group’s direction and key strategies to lead a “second founding.”

Breaking down asset boundaries through tokenization

Park said, “Humanity is standing at the steepest inflection point in history,” adding that “the upheaval centered on AI (artificial intelligence) has brought about the harsh reality of ‘wealth polarization’ and ‘job polarization.’” He continued, “After an era in which capital generated wealth, we have entered an era of ‘productivity asymmetry’ in which AI monopolizes productivity and capabilities,” emphasizing that “as the gap widens further between high-order strategic intelligence and repetitive labor, those who read change preemptively and act will draw a new global map of wealth.”

He also said, “At every great turning point, history has rewritten capitalism,” adding, “Now is a golden opportunity for innovators to change the paradigm of finance.”

As Mirae Asset Group’s first strategy, Park presented dismantling asset boundaries through ‘tokenization’ and building a ‘global investment network.’ He said, “The acquisition of domestic crypto exchange Korbit is a preemptive move for this,” adding, “Digital asset trading will become possible through Mirae Asset’s mobile trading system (MTS) to be launched in Hong Kong this June.” The group is also developing MTS offerings for retail clients in the US and China.

He explained, “The goal is to build a ‘digital asset investment grid’ that connects the world by tokenizing all group assets spanning traditional assets, alternative assets and digital assets.”

Success in issuing Asia’s first digital bond

Park also assessed the ₩100 billion digital bond issued that day by Mirae Asset Securities—the first by an Asian financial company—as “a signal flare announcing the digital transformation of the financial ecosystem.” The digital bond, issued in two currencies—the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar—marks the first case of a full-scale introduction of blockchain technology into the traditional bond market.

Park said, “We raised funds via a private placement using a tokenization platform and blockchain infrastructure, and the fact that funds of this scale poured in foreshadows a major transformation in capital markets,” adding, “It is meaningful in that it presents a new model for borderless fundraising using digital technology.”

The digital bond, based on distributed ledger technology, automated the processes of bond issuance, interest payments and redemption, and is also seen as having secured transaction transparency through real-time settlement.

Park said, “Starting with digital bonds, customers will be able to invest directly in Mirae Asset’s premium assets from anywhere in the world through our global network, without constraints of time zones or borders.”

“Full-scale M&A in the US, Europe and China”

Park also unveiled plans to combine the AI capabilities of Wealthspot, an AI financial firm established in the US last year, and Stockspot, an Australia-based robo-adviser specialist manager, with Mirae Asset Securities’ MTS. He said, “We will integrate Wealthspot’s unrivaled AI wealth management capabilities with the Mirae Asset platform, and Global X’s ETFs will be used as a key tool to deliver Mirae Asset’s innovative investment strategies worldwide,” adding, “Mirae Asset will leap into a ‘digital assets group’ with overwhelming competitive advantage that goes beyond simply participating in global markets to leading and defining them.”

Park also laid out a strategy to secure a ‘Super-Gap’ through reinvestment of profits, saying, “Complacency in investing is regression.” He added, “We are looking for opportunities to expand through M&A in the US, China and Europe,” emphasizing, “We must never miss the opportunities emerging in the US, China and India, the three pillars of the global economy.” He continued, “With a fighting spirit, we will redeploy the capital we have secured back to the front lines to widen the gap among global investment firms.”

To that end, the group plans to establish a venture capital (VC) firm in San Francisco and invest in innovative AI companies. Mirae Asset has previously invested in AI startups Cohere and Perplexity. Park said, “We plan to operate in a dual-hub system—New York and San Francisco in the US; Shanghai and Shenzhen in China; and Mumbai and Bengaluru in India—and invest aggressively in startups.”

Park emphasized, “As the waves of polarization grow ever stronger, what we need is not the comfort that comes from repetitive diligence, but ‘strategic insight’ that pierces the fog of the future and ‘decisiveness’ that does not fear failure,” adding, “As an ‘eternal innovator’ who is the first to jump into opportunities others only watch, Mirae Asset will not stop innovating.”

Jeon Ye-jin, ace@hankyung.com