close
Jump to content

Chey Tae-won

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chey Tae-won
최태원
Chey in 2023
Born (1960-12-03) December 3, 1960 (age 65)
Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Other nameAnthony Chey[1]
EducationKorea University (BS)
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1998–present
Title
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 2025)​
Kim Hee-young
​
(m. 2015)​
Children4
FatherChey Jong-hyun [ko]
Korean name
Hangul
최태원
Hanja
崔泰源
RRChoe Taewon
MRCh'oe T'aewŏn

Chey Tae-won (Korean: 최태원; Hanja: 崔泰源; born December 3, 1960) is a South Korean billionaire businessman and the chairman of SK Group, the country's second largest conglomerate,[2] that includes 186 subsidiaries such as SK Telecom, SK Hynix, and SK Innovation. Chey has been the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) since March 2021.[3]

Chey is among the richest people in South Korea. In July 2026, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$4.7 billion.[4]

Early life

[edit]

Chey was born on December 3, 1960, in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea as the eldest son of Chey Jong-hyun [ko], chairman of Sunkyung Group (now SK Group). Chey attended Korea University where he received a bachelor's degree in physics, and later studied for a PhD in economics at University of Chicago, US, but did not finish.[5][6][7] He joined SK Corp. as a manager, served as executive director of SK America, executive director of SK Corp. and vice president of SK Corp. After the death of Chey Jong-hyun, the former chairman, he took the post of SK chairman at the early age of 38 without a management dispute. It is reported that Chey Yoon-won, the son of founder Chey Jong-gun, appointed Chey Tae-won as the group leader, saying, "Tae-won is the best among our brothers."

Career

[edit]

Chey has been chairman of the SK Group since 1998. Chey has held a number of leadership positions across SK's various operating companies.[8] He had been chairman of SK Innovation since 2011 and chairman of SK Hynix since 2012.[9] He has been chairman of SK Telecom since February 2022.[10] SK Group grew into South Korea's second largest corporate group during his tenure.[2]

In January 2012, Chey was indicted of embezzling over $40 million from SK companies to cover up his trading losses. He denies any wrongdoing.[11] In January 2013, Chey was found guilty, and was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Seoul District Court.[12] He was incarcerated near Seoul until his pardon in August 2015.[13]

Chey has received a number of awards. This includes the "Global Leaders for Tomorrow" award from the World Economic Forum (1999); Co-chair, East Asia Economic Summit 2002 in Malaysia, World Economic Forum (2002); Member, Brookings International Advisory Council (IAC) (2010); Working Group Convener, G20 Business Summit (2010); and two-time President of the Korea Handball Federation (2008, 2016).[8]

In May 2022, Chey was appointed by the presidential transition team as the head of the civilian committee to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030.[14]

Personal life

[edit]

Chey was married to Roh Soh-yeong, art director and daughter of former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo.[15] They have been separated since September 2011,[16] and in December 2015, he announced his intention to divorce.[17] It was revealed that Chey wanted a "clean end" to his 27-year marriage after fathering a child with another woman named Kim Hee-young, who is now Chey's long-term partner.[18][19] In December 2022, the Seoul Family Court approved the divorce, and Chey kept most of his shares.[20] As part of the divorce, a court ordered Chey to pay $1 billion to his former wife.[21] The settlement was overturned in October 2025 by the Supreme Court of Korea, which ordered a review after finding a miscalculation that increased the value of the couple's assets.[22] In a retrial, however, the Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 ordered Chey to pay ₩944 billion ($644 million)[23] to Roh, which is 436.8 billion less than the ₩1.3808 trillion ($946 million) ordered before. The divorce has been termed the "divorce of the century" in South Korean media.[24]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Anthony Chey, SK Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg News.
  2. 1 2 "SK Group jumps to No. 2 in South Korea's largest corporate groups by assets". Korea IT Times. April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Chey Tae-won named as incoming KCCI chief". The Korea Herald. February 23, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Chey Tae-won". Forbes. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
  5. ↑ "< SK 최씨 일가의 대 이은 시카고大 사랑 > | 연합뉴스 : 바른언론 빠른뉴스". www.yonhapnews.co.kr. April 3, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Authors". World Economic Forum. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Investor". www.theinvestor.co.kr. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Tae-won Chey, Chairman and CEO". SK. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Chey Tae-Won – World Policy Conference". Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ "SK Group chief Chey to assume chairman post at SK Telecom". Yonhap News Agency. February 21, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  11. ↑ "#8 Chey Tae-Won". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  12. ↑ "SKorea chaebol chief sentenced to 4 years prison - Yahoo Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. January 31, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  13. ↑ "SK chairman freed from prison for special pardon". Korea IT Times. August 14, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  14. ↑ "KCCI chairman seeks international support for Busan's bid to host World Expo". The Korea Times. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  15. ↑ Jaewon, Kim (September 27, 2023). "SK Group's divorce drama forces courts to weigh breaking up chaebol". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  16. ↑ "SK Chairman and Roh tae-woo's daughter expected to divorce : Business : News : The Hankyoreh". The Hankyoreh. June 19, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  17. ↑ "SK head Chey to divorce ex-president's daughter: report". English.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  18. ↑ "SK Group: Tech titan Chey Tae-won ordered to pay ex-wife $644m in divorce settlement". www.bbc.com. July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  19. ↑ "AI billionaire who left wife for younger lover ordered to pay $645M in South Korea's 'divorce of the century'". July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  20. ↑ 유, 청모 (December 6, 2022). "Court approves divorce, property division for SK chief Chey and wife Roh". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  21. ↑ Kharpal, Arjun (May 30, 2024). "South Korean tech conglomerate SK Inc. surges 16% after chair's $1 billion divorce settlement". CNBC. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  22. ↑ "S Korea tycoon escapes paying $1bn in 'divorce of the century'". BBC. October 16, 2025. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  23. ↑ "SK Group: Tech titan Chey Tae-won ordered to pay ex-wife $644m in divorce settlement". www.bbc.com. July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  24. ↑ Seong-Tae, Kim (July 25, 2026). "Court Orders Chey Tae-won to Pay Roh 944 Billion Won in Landmark Divorce". Seoul Economic Daily. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chey_Tae-won&oldid=1366461088"