Tech billionaire ordered to pay $645M to ex-wife in South Korea's ‘divorce of the century’ - Fox Business

What the report says

Fox Business reported that a South Korean court has ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong, 944 billion won, or about $645 million, in what it described as the largest divorce asset award in the country’s history. The Seoul High Court issued the ruling Friday in a long-running case widely referred to as South Korea’s “divorce of the century.”

The revised award is below the 1.38 trillion won, or about $935 million, that an appeals court granted in 2024, but it still places pressure on Chey to raise a large cash sum. According to the report, analysts said he may have to sell assets, take on borrowing or use shares as collateral, though they do not expect the payment to undermine his control of SK Group. The court required cash rather than stock, citing the role of Chey’s shares in maintaining control of the conglomerate.

Chey holds a 17.9% stake in SK Inc., SK Group’s holding company, and Forbes estimates his wealth at $5.4 billion, Fox Business reported. Shares of SK Inc. and SK Hynix fell in Seoul trading after the ruling, with SK Hynix down 8.3%. SK Group has drawn heightened investor attention as SK Hynix has become a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used in artificial intelligence systems.

The court awarded Roh one-third of the marital assets after finding she helped preserve and grow family wealth during the marriage. Fox Business said either side may appeal, which could return the property-division dispute to South Korea’s Supreme Court.