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Seoul, Oktober 4, 2026 – South Korea’s SK Group Chairman Chey Tae won will sell a $700 million stake in SK Inc. to comply with a divorce settlement, a move that underscores how personal legal disputes can reverberate through corporate governance in one of Asia’s largest conglomerates.
The Seoul High Court recently ordered Chey to pay 944 billion won ($700.8 million) to his former wife, Roh Soh yeong, as part of a property division settlement.
To meet this obligation, Chey will divest 1.65 million shares in SK Inc., equivalent to a 2.3 percent stake.
His personal ownership will fall from 17.9 percent to 15.5 percent, while combined holdings with affiliates will decline from 25.2 percent to 22.9 percent.
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Despite the reduction, Chey will remain SK’s largest shareholder, retaining effective control of the group.
The transaction is structured to minimize market disruption about 544 billion won worth of shares will be sold to strategic investors via block deals, while another 400 billion won will be raised through a price return swap with securities firms.
The announcement rattled investors. SK Inc. shares fell nearly 4 percent following the ruling, while SK Hynix, the group’s crown jewel and one of the world’s leading suppliers of high bandwidth memory chips for Nvidia’s AI processors, dropped more than 8 percent.
Analysts noted that while the sale is significant, Chey’s control remains secure, and SK’s long term growth trajectory is unlikely to be derailed.
Chey, whose fortune is estimated at $5.4 billion, has long been a central figure in South Korea’s corporate landscape.
His leadership has steered SK Group into semiconductors, energy, and telecommunications, positioning it as a critical player in the global AI chip boom.
The divorce case, however, highlights the vulnerabilities of chaebol governance, where family disputes can spill into boardrooms and unsettle investor confidence.
The settlement also reflects broader scrutiny of South Korea’s conglomerates.
Governance reforms have been a recurring theme in Seoul, with regulators and investors pressing for transparency and accountability.
Chey’s careful handling of the stake sale balancing legal obligations with market stability suggest lessons learned from past crises that rocked other family-run empires.
For SK, the immediate challenge lies in calming investor nerves.
The group’s strong position in AI chips may provide resilience, as demand for high-performance semiconductors continues to surge globally.
Yet the episode serves as a reminder that even in the high-tech era, personal entanglements can shape corporate destinies.
At stake is not only Chey’s fortune but also the perception of SK’s governance.
While the chairman’s grip on the conglomerate remains firm, the divorce settlement has added a new layer of complexity to the narrative of South Korea’s chaebol leadership.
