The divorce battle involving SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is no longer only a dispute over one of South Korea’s largest personal fortunes. It has become a test of how a billionaire executive can divide personal wealth when much of that wealth is tied to control of a major corporation.
A South Korean court has ordered Chey to pay his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong, $670 million in cash while allowing him to retain his shares in SK Inc., the holding company through which he maintains influence over SK Group. The ruling highlights a challenge familiar to some of the world’s richest business leaders: their fortunes may be worth billions, but much of that value exists in company shares that also determine who controls the business.
The issue has drawn comparisons with the divorces of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who used stock transfers to divide their fortunes while limiting disruption to their companies. Chey’s case is different because he and Roh did not reach an agreement, leaving South Korean courts to decide not only the size of the settlement but also how it should be paid.
The timing of the dispute adds another layer of significance. SK Group has become a major player in the global technology race through SK hynix, one of the world’s leading memory chipmakers and a key supplier in the artificial intelligence semiconductor market.
As demand for AI infrastructure has pushed semiconductor companies to record valuations, the ownership structure of groups tied to those businesses has attracted greater attention.
The appellate court attempted to separate Chey’s personal divorce settlement from SK Group’s management structure. Instead of ordering Chey to transfer his SK Inc. shares, which are closely connected to his influence over the conglomerate, the court allowed him to keep those shares and required him to provide Roh with cash.
But the decision created a new challenge: finding $670 million in liquidity. Chey’s assets are heavily concentrated in stocks, meaning he may need to sell shares or borrow against them. A large sale of SK Inc. shares could reduce his ownership stake and potentially affect his influence over the group. Using the shares as collateral could preserve ownership but add financial pressure if the stock price falls.
The case reflects a broader issue among billionaire executives whose wealth is built around company ownership. A founder or chairman may have billions of dollars in net worth while holding relatively limited cash because most of the wealth exists through equity. During a divorce, transferring that wealth can become complicated when the same shares also represent control over a company.
Bezos faced a similar challenge when he divorced MacKenzie Scott in 2019. The couple divided Amazon shares rather than forcing Bezos to sell stock or raise cash. Bezos transferred 25% of the Amazon shares the couple held together to Scott, representing about 4% of Amazon and worth roughly $30 billion at the time.
However, their agreement allowed Bezos to retain voting control over those shares. The arrangement enabled Scott to receive a substantial portion of the couple’s wealth while limiting the impact on Bezos’s ability to lead Amazon. The two also agreed that Bezos would keep his interests in The Washington Post and Blue Origin.
Gates also relied on stock transfers rather than a large cash settlement when he and Melinda French Gates ended their 27-year marriage in 2021. Gates transferred billions of dollars in publicly traded shares, including holdings in Canadian National Railway, AutoNation and Coca-Cola FEMSA.
The key difference is that Bezos and Gates reached agreements with their former spouses before the division of assets was finalized. Chey and Roh did not reach such an agreement, forcing the court to determine both the amount of compensation and the payment method.
South Korean attorney Won Eui-rim said some couples in South Korea have used arrangements where one spouse receives shares while voting rights remain with the other side. However, such structures require agreement between both parties and are difficult to impose through a court ruling.
The Supreme Court will now review whether the appellate court correctly applied legal standards when determining Roh’s contribution to the couple’s wealth and deciding how SK Inc. shares should be handled.
The court previously ruled that $20 million linked to Roh Tae-woo, South Korea’s former president and Roh Soh-yeong’s father, should not be counted as part of Roh’s contribution to the couple’s assets. The appellate court removed that amount from consideration but reduced Roh’s recognized contribution only slightly, from 35% to about 33.3%.
Chey’s legal team is expected to argue that the contribution ratio remains too high and that SK Inc. shares should not have been included as property subject to division.
The final outcome will determine more than the size of a divorce settlement. It will test how South Korea handles a modern billionaire problem: how to divide enormous personal fortunes when those fortunes are inseparable from control of companies that have become important players in the global economy.
