Go Champ Becomes Advertisers' Darling

An advertisement about the baduk match between Lee Se-do and AlphaGpo is to be displayed in New York. A Korean-American businessman made and funded it. /Newsis

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Baduk or go champion Lee Se-dol, who squared off against Google DeepMind's proto-artificial intelligence program AlphaGo, has become a darling of advertisers.

A dozen major conglomerates are interested in hiring him to pitch their products and services, and industry insiders estimate Lee will secure at least between six or seven contracts.

Offers have risen to a reported W400 million for a one-year deal after Lee rose to international fame in his match against AlphaGo (US$1=W1,164)

One advertiser said Lee will make around W2 billion from ad endorsements, twice as much as he would have earned if he had defeated AlphaGo.

Lee is also now a favorite booking for TV entertainment shows. Lee's older brother Lee Sang-hoon, who works as his manager, said, "We have been getting phone calls from advertisers all day".

Lee is vacationing on Jeju Island with his family and returns to Seoul this week.