Coupang posts record sales despite data breach; founder apologizes in person

US-listed e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. on Friday reported its annual sales climbed to a record high last year, despite a massive data breach, while its founder delivered a public apology for the first time in person.

Annual sales came to 49.11 trillion won ($34.3 billion) in 2025, spiking 18.9 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a press release.

Net income more than tripled to 303 billion won from 94 billion won the previous year, while operating profit surged 12.7 percent on-year to 679 billion won.

Such a stellar performance came despite the data breach incident, which the company earlier claimed had affected only some 3,000 user accounts, but was later determined by a joint public-private inspection to have affected over 33.6 million accounts.

Kim Bom-suk, founder and board chairman of Coupang, offered his first verbal apology over the incident.

"Everything we have built at Coupang has been driven by a single focus: wowing our customers. Our customers are the only reason we exist, and earning their trust is something we strive to do every single day," Kim said in an earnings call.

"There is nothing more serious at Coupang than failing to live up to our customers' expectations. We know we have to do better, and we will," he added.

Kim previously issued an apology in a written statement in late December.

In the three months ended Dec. 31, Coupang's sales jumped 15 percent to 12.81 trillion won from 11.11 trillion won a year earlier.

Its operating profit plunged 97 percent on-year to 11.5 billion won, possibly due to its 50,000 won per user compensation package over the data breach incident.

The company swung to a net loss of 37.7 billion won in the fourth quarter from a net profit of 182.7 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2024, it said. (Yonhap)