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Nexon's holding company invests $16m in Elon Musk's SpaceX

Jan. 14, 2021 - 19:41 By Kim Young-won
The image shows spaceflight company SpaceX’s rocket launch. (SpaceX)


NXC, the holding company of South Korea’s largest game developer Nexon, has invested $16 million in SpaceX, the aerospace company run by electric carmaker Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company said Thursday.

“NXC invested $16 million in SpaceX’s fundraising round in August, in which the spaceflight company issued convertible preferred stocks,” said an NXC official, declining to comment on details of the deal.

SpaceX is said to have issued preferred stocks at the time to raise $1.9 billion. NXC’s $16 million investment accounts for 60 percent of a fund created by a local asset manager to invest in the US company.

The deal was made as part of an investment strategy led by Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju. He left Nexon in 2016, but has remained chairman of its holding company.

Meanwhile, NXC, which acquired Europe’s largest cryptocurrency exchange operator Bitstamp for $350 million in 2018, is rumored to be planning a takeover of Korean crypto exchange firm Bithumb. The company also invested in cryptocurrency firm Tagomi in the past.

Among other companies acquired by NXC are European baby stroller maker Stokke and online marketplace for Lego parts Bricklink, both in 2013.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)