Jim Kim, World Bank president dumps position for investment firm

Jim Yong Kim World Bank President has announced plans to resign from the World Bank on Feb. 1 to join a firm focused on infrastructure investments, the Breton wood institution announced Monday.

Kim is leaving the bank nearly three years before his term is set to expire in 2022, to focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries, the bank stated adding that the details of this new position will be announced shortly.

During his term, Kim emphasized that one of the greatest needs in the developing world is infrastructure finance, and he pushed the Bank Group to maximize finance for development by working with a new cadre of private sector partners committed to building sustainable, climate-smart infrastructure in developing countries.

In addition to working on infrastructure investments, Kim announced that he will also be re-joining the board of Partners In Health (PIH), an organization he co-founded more than 30 years ago.

“I look forward to working once again with my longtime friends and colleagues at PIH on a range of issues in global health and education.  I will also continue my engagement with Brown University as a trustee of the Corporation and look forward to serving as a Senior Fellow at Brown’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs,” Kim said

Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank CEO, will assume the role of interim President effective February 1, the bank’s statement added.

A South-Korean-born physician and anthropologist, raised in the United States, Kim has served as president of the World Bank since 2012. He was re-elected for a second five-year term that began in 2017.

Prior to taking the helm at the bank, he was the President of Dartmouth College, becoming the first Asian-American to lead the Ivy League institution.

He previously held posts at Harvard University and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he was known for his work combatting HIV/AIDS.