Seoul, South Korea
—
Three billionaires surprised diners when they walked into a popular fried chicken restaurant on Thursday – and picked up everyone’s bill.
Jensen Huang, CEO of the world’s most valuable company, AI chip giant Nvidia, went to the Seoul chicken-and-beer joint with the leaders of two of South Korea’s global tech titans: Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Chung Eui-sun.
Fried chicken paired with ice-cold draft beer, known as “chimaek,” is a must-have for anyone visiting South Korea, and the tech potentates got their fill at Kkanbu Chicken in the heart of the nation’s capital, ahead of the APEC summit in Gyeongju.
“I love fried chicken and beer with my friends, so Kkanbu is a perfect place, right?” Huang told live-streaming passersby as he arrived at the restaurant. As well as being the name of the restaurant chain, “Kkanbu” is a slang word for a very close friend.
The three ate cheese balls, cheese sticks, boneless chicken and a fried chicken along with Korean beer Terra and the local rice spirit soju, according to national news agency Yonhap.
Video from local news outlets showed the trio – combined net worth $195 billion – linking their drinking arms to take a shot of beer, a gesture that, in South Korea, cements friendship while drinking.
Huang, Lee and Chung stepped out to offer chicken and cheese sticks to the assembled crowd.
“The chicken wings was so good. Have you been here before? It’s incredible, right?” Huang said when asked about his favourite items.
“Anyone? Fried chicken?” he offered as he held chicken baskets up.
When Huang rang the “golden bell,” a gesture to pay the bill for everyone in the restaurant, people cheered — though Samsung’s Lee paid the bill and Chung paid for a second round, according to Yonhap.
Fresh from his high-stakes trade talks with US President Donald Trump, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is among Asian heads of government who have descended on Gyeongju, in southern South Korea, for the APEC summit.
Access to cutting-edge AI chips – such as those that have pushed Nvidia to a market cap of about $5 trillion – is among issues being thrashed out between the US and China.
On Friday at the APEC summit, Huang met South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, and announced Nvidia would provide more than 260,000 graphics processing units to South Korean companies, including those of his drinking buddies.
Huang said his company would work with Samsung and Hyundai, as well as local web giant Naver and chipmaker SK, to strengthen physical AI, such as by developing AI-driven autonomous vehicles, according to the presidential office.
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