James J Kim

Korean immigrant came to u.s. in 1955. Former law student started Amkor Electronics in 1968 as American sales/design partner to father H.S. Kim's Korean chipmaker, Anam Semiconductor. Public 1998; today family owns 45% stake. Fortune down $200 million; shares down 40% in past 6 months. Accused of stock option backdating 2 years ago; forced to restate 7 years of earnings. Created Electronics Boutique mall kiosks with wife, Agnes, in 1977; bought out by GameStop in 2005 for $1.4 billion. The Kims' reaped $315 million in stock; sold most of their shares last year. In the Forbes 400 print version we incorrectly stated that James Kim had been found guilty of insider trading by an Arizona court. In fact, the party involved was not Kim, but Kevin Heron, Amkor's former general counsel; and the trial took place in Pennsylvania, not Arizona. In 2007, a jury convicted Heron of four insider-trading charges. Three of these were later vacated by a judge; Heron is currently serving time for the remaining conviction. Kim was not charged with anything. Forbes regrets the error.