This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site at 5:55 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2025.
It was confirmed that Lee Seung-geon, founder and chief executive of Viva Republica, which operates Toss, executed refinancing with the family office Sungdam Co. to repay loans he had previously received from virtual asset exchanges and securities firms. The loan amount was about 65 billion won, and the interest rate is reported to be in the low teens.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry, Lee received a loan of more than 60 billion won from the domestic family office Sungdam Co.
In 2021, Lee borrowed $54,751,149 from McLorin Investment, a subsidiary of the bankrupt U.S. virtual asset exchange FTX (about 65 billion won at the exchange rate at the time). He refinanced that money through Korea Investment & Securities and then borrowed from the family office to repay it.
Sungdam Co. is a family office that handles investments with the controlling family's money. Its investment size is about 300 billion won and its origin is Hwaseongsa, a solar salt-producing salt farm company founded in 1953. It exited the salt business in 1996 and expanded into real estate. The family owns 100% of the equity, including Vice Chairman Jeong Kyung-han (29%), Jeong Jae-mun (28%) and Jeong Yun-ju (9%).
Lee is known to be close enough to regularly visit Sungdam Co. and chat with the owner family. Although Viva Republica shares were taken as collateral, the loan is assessed to be close to a personal credit loan for Lee.
A Viva Republica official said, "Personal loan matters are information that we cannot provide beyond what is disclosed," but added, "All personal loans were made for tax payments and share acquisitions." A Sungdam Co. official said, "We are reluctant to comment."
Loan repayment appears likely only after Viva Republica's U.S. listing succeeds. Since Lee holds 15.45% of Viva Republica, based on Viva Republica's target corporate value of 10 trillion won, Lee's stake would be worth about 1.5 trillion won.
However, industry sources say Lee's loan is unlikely to have a large impact on the listing. Although the absolute size of the loan is large, it is only about 4% of Lee's estimated stake value. Relative to Viva Republica's total value, it is 0.65%.
An IB industry official said, "The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not force the largest shareholder of a company to place their shares in a lockup," and added, "They may do so voluntarily to ensure listing success, but selling enough existing shares to repay loans is unlikely to have a large effect on the listing."