Why He's Powerful
Nexon hasn't made a huge splash in America compared to some—although 21 million players in North America is nothing to sneeze at—but the Korean company's free-to-play titles were years ahead from a revenue standpoint.
Thirty-nine-year-old CEO Daniel Kim came from a design background (he worked with the original team that helped design the groundbreaking Handspring Treo smartphone at Ideo) but moved to Nexon in 2006 at the Korean HQ.
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Giants like Maple Story are contributing to the company's year-on-year revenue growth—29% as of third quarter 2011—and Kim is helping shepherd at least one new property like the role-playing Dragon Nest online each year.