
Why Skills-First Leadership Is Replacing the Ivy League Playbook in the C-Suite
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
October 20, 2022: -A leading manager at Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea’s ultimate mobile page, KakaoTalk, will resign. His resignation comes following a fire at a data center due to a mass outage over the weekend and coming in between its messenger’s 53 million users worldwide.
Co-CEO Namkoong When apologized after the outage and said he would leave.
“I feel the heavy burden of responsibility more than this incident and will step down from my place as CEO and lead the emergency disaster task force witnessing the aftermath of the incident,” Namkoong added at a press conference at the office in the outskirts of Seoul.
“We will do our best to restore our users’ faith in Kakao and make sure incidents such as these never occur again,” he added.
Namkoong is appointing a CEO in March, according to the company’s website. Kakao reported 47.5 million active users in South Korea in the second quarter. That’s over 90% of South Korea’s population of 51.74 million people as of November 1, 2021.
Hong Eun-take, who led the company alongside Namkoong as co-CEO, will remain the sole authority of the company, according to the company’s filing.
“We sincerely feel guilty to all those that own suffered from the disruptions during the outage,” Hong stated as he turned alongside Namkoong.
Shares of the company are trading 4% higher in South Korea’s session after the press conference.
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
Loud leaders once ruled the boardroom. Charisma was currency. Big talk drove big valuations.
But the CEOs who make history in downturns aren’t the ones with the deepest cuts
Companies invest millions in leadership development, yet many of their best executives leave within a few years. Why?
The most successful business leaders don’t just identify gaps in the market; they anticipate future needs before anyone else.
With technological advancements, shifting consumer expectations, and global interconnectedness, the role of business leaders
May 28, 2025: SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight, conducted on May 27, 2025, ended in failure when the spacecraft’s upper stage broke apart during its descent over the Indian Ocean.
May 27, 2025: Greek Coastguards Charged Over 2023 Pylos Migrant Shipwreck That Killed Hundreds
May 27, 2025: Volvo to Cut 3,000 Jobs in Europe as Part of $1.9B Restructuring Amid EV Slowdown and Tariff Pressures.
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
Leave us a message
Subscribe
Fill the form our team will contact you
Advertise with us
Fill the form our team will contact you