M ichael Byungju Kim is a Korean-American billionaire investor who is widely regarded as a pioneer of the private equity industry in Asia. He is the founder and chairman of MBK Partners, one of the largest and most successful independent private equity firms in the region. Born in South Korea, he immigrated to the United States for his education. After earning an MBA from Harvard, he worked in finance before joining the global private equity giant The Carlyle Group, where he rose to become the head of its Asia buyout fund.

In 2005, Kim left Carlyle to found his own firm, MBK Partners, with a focus on large-scale buyouts in the more developed markets of North Asia: South Korea, Japan, and Greater China. The firm has since raised tens of billions of dollars and has acquired a portfolio of major companies in sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, and consumer retail. His success in executing complex, multi-billion dollar deals has earned him the moniker the "Godfather of Asian Private Equity" and has made him one of the wealthiest self-made financiers in the world.