Wemade, a leading South Korean publisher and game developer, was announced July 12,ThHenry Chang, the CEO of Wemade, exercised his stock option and purchased 223,504 shares at an incredible USD 2.67million (KRW 3,5billion). He did not sell one share. As a result, Mr. Chang’s stake in Wemade reached 1.5%.
Wemade has shifted its attention to metaverse technology and blockchain technology. Wemade is now focused on creating and supporting well-made, economically relevant games. As a result, Wemade developed “Wemix”, a game-centric blockchain platform (with 14 Play & Earn titles), that provides services including cryptocurrency wallet, NFT auction & marketplace, staking, and more, based on its utility coin WEMIX.
Chang is not new to showing his loyalty to the business. He even announced his commitment earlier in the year to put all of his salary and dividends into WEMIX coin. Wemade was announced June 24The following is a list of th that Mr. Chang’s purchase of 13,424.6 WEMIX coins (worth USD 38,125.86) with the salary he received from the same month. He now has 51,258.354 WEMIX coin (worth US$ 145,573.7) in total. In addition to the dividends he received last year, this is his fourth investment in WEMIX Coin.
He has always kept his word that he would contribute to the sustainability of Wemix ecosystem. He stressed, however that he did not intend to sell any shares or WEMIX coins.
As part of corporate governance, compensation packages for CEOs are included. Companies often offer their CEOs stock options that tie CEO’s compensation to the company’s stock performance which creates incentives for CEOs to manage the firm and work hard in ways that maximize firm market value.
Stock options can be misunderstood as a way for top management to adopt strategies that will only increase the stock price in the short-term. Opportunist CEOs would be able to time their exercise of stock options when stock prices are high, and then sell the shares they have just acquired at a premium.
Mr. Chang is one of the very few CEOs in South Korea to invest in his company’s stock despite very high volatility in the capital markets.
Mr. Chang’s move is highly contrary to a few CEOs who exercised their stock options to sell the shares last year, only six to twelve months after the companies were listed.
However, it is not uncommon for executives to sell off large amounts of stock they received through their stock options. This angers minority shareholders. This is especially true if it occurs soon after the company becomes public. It also creates a disconnect between shareholders and leaders. However, Mr. Chang’s move is exactly the opposite.
Mr. Chang reiterated his engagement in the firm’s long-term success and shareholder value. Wemade reached new heights thanks to his dedication and hardwork. In the last quarter of 2022, the company reported a USD 131,000,000 increase in revenue. It is a 72% increase over last year. MIR4, Wemade’s flagship P&E MMORPG (from the Legend of Mir series) gathered 6.5 million active users within a few months of its global launch in 12 languages and 170 countries. Its successor MIR M topped Google Play’s popularity chart after its release in South Korea in June 2022. The highly anticipated global P&E version will be launched within the year.
Since Mr. Chang’s commitment has no limit, Wemade is expected to continue its winning strike with more achievements in both its video game development and publishing services and its blockchain ecosystem.