Lee Seung-gun Net Worth

Lee Seung-gun has an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Lee Seung-gun profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is down from a peak of $1.2 billion.

Lee Seung-gun is a South Korean entrepreneur and dentist who founded Viva Republica, the company behind the Korean finance app Toss. He was born on January 30, 1982, in Seoul.

He graduated from Youngdong High School in 2001 and from Seoul National University's School of Dentistry in 2007. That year he began a residency at Samsung Medical Center, and before starting his company he worked as a dentist at a hospital affiliated with the Samsung Group. He completed his compulsory military service as a public health doctor in South Jeolla Province, and soon after his discharge he became interested in technology and entrepreneurship. His medical training gave him a stable career, but he chose to leave it behind for the uncertain world of startups.

His path was not easy. He has said he had difficulty convincing his parents to let him pivot from dentistry to business. It was reported in 2024 that he was unmarried.

How Lee Seung-gun made his money

Lee founded Viva Republica in 2013. For a time he worked part time as a dentist and spent the rest of his hours developing app products, all of which failed. In 2015 he finally succeeded with Toss, an app that made it simple to transfer money. Lee serves as the company's chairman. His years of failed attempts before Toss show how long he worked before finding a product that caught on.

In June 2021 Viva Republica raised more than $400 million in a financing round that valued the company at $7.4 billion. That round made Lee a billionaire through his stake. Its investors include PayPal, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. That list of backers spans American payments, Asian sovereign wealth and Silicon Valley venture capital.

How Forbes has valued Lee Seung-gun

Forbes first listed Lee on the World's Billionaires List in 2022, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. As of October 20, 2026, the Forbes real-time billionaires tracker showed $1.1 billion.

Because Viva Republica is a private company, his figure is a Forbes estimate based on the value set in its funding rounds. Few people on the list started their careers as dentists. His figure is lower than at his 2022 debut but still above the billion dollar mark.