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Screen capture of Fast Company’s list of the world's 50 “most innovative companies.”

Webtoon Entertainment, the US-based headquarters of Naver Webtoon, came in first place in the media category on a ranking of the top innovating corporations by the US business magazine Fast Company.

In second place was the New York Times Company, which has been transforming from a traditional medium into a digital brand. Naver Webtoon was also up to eighth place in an overall ranking of the world’s most innovative companies for the year.

Fast Company published its list of 50 of the world’s most innovative companies of 2023, along with rankings of the top 10 most innovative companies in different categories. Webtoon Entertainment came in first in the media category.

Explaining the reason for its selection, Fast Company wrote, “The company, which started in Korea in 2004 but is now headquartered in Los Angeles, has turned webcomics into the latest Korean pop-culture fad to become a global cross-media phenomenon.”

“Webtoon has made reading comics on a mobile phone as pleasurable as flipping through an actual comic book,” it said.

Listed as the second most innovative company in the media category was the New York Times, a previously print-based traditional medium. The magazine explained, “More so than any other mainstream news organization, The New York Times Company has succeeded in transitioning into a lifestyle brand by building up categories like cooking, games, and sports through savvy bundling and acquisitions.”

“The company reached its goal of 10 million total subscriptions faster than planned; its goal is now 15 million subscribers by 2027,” it added.

The overall ranking of the most innovative companies of 2023 was topped by OpenAI, which developed the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. In second place was McDonald’s, which the magazine described as “cooking up cultural moments as addictive as its fries.”

In third place, Airbnb was credited with “redesigning its platform for the new era of travel.” Microsoft was listed in sixth place for “centering accessibility in its products” and Roblox in seventh for “raising the metaverse through its adolescence.” Naver Webtoon came in eighth.

By Lim Ji-sun, staff reporter

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