As a massive personal data leak occurred at Coupang, it emerged that key company executives disposed of equity worth several billion won after the incident was recognized.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 2nd (local time), Gaurav Anand, Coupang chief financial officer (CFO), reported selling 75,350 shares of Coupang Inc equity on the 10th of last month at about $29.02 per share. The total sale amounted to $2,186,000 (about 3.2 billion won).
Former Vice President Pranam Kolarri was also reported to have disposed of 27,388 shares on the 17th of the same month. The sale amount was recorded at about $772,000 (about 1.13 billion won). Former Vice President Kolarri, a key technology executive who oversaw search and recommendation systems, left the company on the 14th of last month.
According to materials submitted by Choi Min-hee, chair of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), Coupang reported that at 6:38 p.m. on the 6th of last month there was abnormal access to its account. However, the time of recognizing the breach is recorded as 10:52 p.m. on Nov. 18, 12 days later.
These stock sales were transactions made before Coupang said it had officially recognized the personal information breach. Whether there are legal issues remains to be determined, but the fact that former and current key executives sold equity in succession at a sensitive time could spark controversy over possible "insider trading."
On the 29th of last month, Coupang announced that the basic personal information of about 33.7 million customer accounts—names, emails, phone numbers and addresses—and some order histories had been leaked externally. Earlier on the 18th of last month, it first reported an incident in which information on about 4,500 accounts was leaked without authorization.
Regarding the executive stock sales, Coupang said, "The stock sale by Gaurav Anand, Coupang CFO, was carried out under a 'Rule 10b5-1' transaction plan adopted by the filer on Dec. 8 last year, and the plan was primarily established to meet certain tax (filing) obligations."
It added, "As for the former Vice President Pranam Kolarri's stock sale, the sale plan was announced on the 17th of last month, and the sale has not yet taken place."