A South Korean court just cut a “divorce of the century” payout by hundreds of millions of dollars, while still counting a billionaire’s booming AI-era stock pile as marital property.
Story Snapshot
- A Seoul court ordered SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion won, about $640 million, in cash.
- Judges said Chey’s shares in SK Inc. are marital property and awarded Roh roughly one-third of the couple’s assets for her long-term contributions.
- The Supreme Court removed a key “slush fund” element from the earlier record 1.38 trillion won ruling but kept the core asset-division claim alive.
- The fight highlights how AI-driven stock gains, political connections, and family work all collide when courts divide modern mega-fortunes.
Record Divorce Payout Still Tied To SK’s AI-Era Wealth
South Korean judges are now telling one of the country’s richest men to hand over cash, not control, from a fortune built in the age of artificial intelligence. The Seoul High Court has ordered SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his ex-wife, art museum director Roh Soh-yeong, 944 billion won, or about $640 million, as her share of their marital property. That amount is lower than the headline-grabbing 1.38 trillion won award from 2024, but it is still the largest divorce asset payout in South Korean history.
The wealth at the center of this case is deeply tied to the global AI boom. Chey controls SK Group, whose chip unit SK Hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory used in artificial intelligence servers and systems. As demand for these chips surged, the market value of Chey’s shares in SK Inc., the group’s parent company, climbed sharply, drawing more public attention to how that wealth would be divided in the divorce. The court specifically said it “took into account the sharp rise” in his share value when setting the division ratio.
Court Says Long-Term Homemaking Counts As Building A Fortune
To reach the 944 billion won figure, the Seoul High Court treated Chey’s ownership stake in SK Inc. as marital property, not just as his personal business asset. Judges said a “substantial portion” of the couple’s joint assets were formed during the marriage, and they weighed what each spouse held at the wedding, how assets were acquired, and how long the marriage lasted. The court then ruled that Roh should receive about one-third of the marital estate, recognizing her decades of support for Chey’s career.
Legal records and news reports show the court did not see Roh as a passive bystander. It credited her work running the household, raising three children, and handling public-facing duties linked to SK Group as contributions to the growth in value of Chey’s shares. In simple terms, the judges said Chey’s management decisions drove the business, but that his success was not “solely his achievement” because Roh’s unpaid labor and social role helped protect and grow that wealth. For readers in any country, this is a clear sign that courts increasingly see homemaking and family support as part of how fortunes are made.
Supreme Court Rejects “Slush Fund” Theory But Keeps Case Alive
The current 944 billion won payout only came after South Korea’s Supreme Court stepped in and struck out one of Roh’s biggest arguments. In the 2024 ruling, the Seoul High Court had accepted her claim that a 30 billion won slush fund provided by her father, former President Roh Tae-woo, helped SK Group grow and could be counted as her contribution. That finding helped push the award up to 1.38 trillion won, almost $1 billion, based on an estimated 4 trillion won in Chey’s assets.
In October 2025, the Supreme Court partly overturned that decision. It said that even if such funds had flowed to SK Group, they would have come from illegal bribes and could not be treated as a lawful marital contribution when dividing assets. The top court sent the property division back to the Seoul High Court for recalculation, but it upheld the 2 billion won damages and alimony award related to Chey’s long-running infidelity and a child born outside the marriage. That move cut the payout but confirmed that Roh was still entitled to a major share of Chey’s wealth.
Shares Stay With Chey As Control Questions And Public Anger Grow
One key detail is what the court did not do: it did not force Chey to hand over his SK Inc. shares themselves. Judges said the stock is linked to SK Group’s management rights, so Chey will keep his stake and instead must pay Roh the full 944 billion won in cash. That protects his control over the conglomerate, calming worries in local business circles that a forced share sale might shake corporate governance and hurt investors.
$SKYH A Seoul court ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong a record $944 billion ($645 million USD) in their divorce, valuing his stake in SK Inc. (034730.KS) using its April 2024 price rather than the much higher 2026 level after the AI boom.… pic.twitter.com/ENesQw4OaT
— Canadian Jennifer 🇨🇦 (@cdntradegrljenn) July 28, 2026
Still, the case feeds wider anger about elites and fairness. Many ordinary Koreans look at this nine-year battle between a tycoon and a former president’s daughter and see a system built by and for the powerful. Media have branded it the “divorce of the century,” focusing on eye-popping numbers while everyday families struggle with high living costs and job insecurity. At the same time, the ruling quietly shows courts trying to value unpaid care work and long-term support, even inside the rarefied world of billionaires and AI-fueled stock gains.
Sources:
zerohedge.com, reuters.com, bbc.com, foxbusiness.com, koreaherald.com, straitstimes.com, youtube.com
