Who owns KakaoTalk?
KakaoTalk is owned by Kakao (South Korea, KRX: 035720).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Kakao Company Presentation, February 2026, Kakao Corp, 1 February 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Kakao Corp. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇰🇷 South Korea, Jeju
- Origin
- 🇰🇷 South Korea
- Category
- Internet & digital › Digital services › Email & messaging
- Parent ticker
- KRX: 035720
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk is South Korea's dominant messaging app, with 49 million domestic monthly users against a population of 52 million, which Kakao puts at 94 per cent penetration. Users open it more than fifty times a day and spend around 25 minutes in it. Kakao is rebuilding it as a super app, adding commerce, gifting and the Kanana and ChatGPT for Kakao assistants inside the chat window.
Ownership timeline of KakaoTalk
Where KakaoTalk sits in Kakao
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Kakao ownership tree →
See the full Kakao brand portfolio (6) →
Other brands owned by Kakao
Kakao controls 6 brands on Brandtree, 5 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
Other brands in email & messaging, and who owns them
The 18 brands in email & messaging on Brandtree belong to 14 owners. The largest is Snap, with 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Messenger | Meta | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Firefox Relay | Mozilla | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Bitmoji | Snap | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Mail.ru Email | VK | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Gmail | Alphabet | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Yahoo Mail | Apollo | 🇺🇸 United States |
| LINE | LY Corporation | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Skype | Microsoft | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Kakao
Kakao is a publicly listed company headquartered in Jeju, South Korea. Brandtree records 6 brands under its control, and it is listed as KRX: 035720.
Kakao is the South Korean internet group built around KakaoTalk, a messaging app with 49 million monthly users in a country of 52 million, and it monetises that position through advertising, gifting and commerce inside the app. Around it sit partly owned subsidiaries covering mobility, payments, banking, music streaming, webtoons and games, most of which Kakao holds well short of outright. Consolidated revenue reached a record 8.1 trillion won in 2025. Its web portal Daum, long the group's second pillar, was separated out as AXZ and left the group; it is absent from Kakao's February 2026 ownership chart.
🇰🇷 KakaoTalk and other South Korean brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 185 brands that began in South Korea. 7 of them (4%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; KakaoTalk is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of KakaoTalk?
The parent company of KakaoTalk is Kakao, a publicly listed company headquartered in South Korea.
Is KakaoTalk South Korean?
Yes. KakaoTalk originated in South Korea and its owner, Kakao, is also headquartered in South Korea.
Is KakaoTalk still owned by Kakao?
Yes. As of 28 September 2026, KakaoTalk is still owned by Kakao. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Kakao Company Presentation, February 2026 — Kakao Corp., Official document, published 1 February 2026; retrieved 28 September 2026.
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