A South Korean court ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former wife a divorce settlement of approximately $644 million on Friday [1].
The ruling concludes one of the most expensive legal disputes in the history of South Korea. It establishes a significant precedent for how marital assets are divided when they involve the ownership and control of a massive family-run conglomerate.
The court in Seoul issued the order on July 24, 2026 [2]. The final payout is reported by most sources as $644 million [1], though some reports estimate the figure at $640 million [3]. In local currency, the settlement is valued at 944 billion won [3].
This legal battle has lasted nearly a decade, focusing on the division of assets tied to the SK Group [1]. The financial scale of the settlement has drawn international attention, with the amount also cited as RM2.6 billion [4] or £480 million [5] depending on the currency conversion used.
The dispute centered on the valuation of shares and wealth accumulated during the marriage. Because the assets were tied to the conglomerate's structure, the proceedings were prolonged as the court determined the fair distribution of wealth between the former spouses [1].
Chey Tae-won has led the tech giant through significant growth, but the personal legal struggle has remained a high-profile fixture of the South Korean business landscape for years [2]. The ruling now provides a definitive resolution to the division of these marital assets [1].
“A South Korean court ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former wife a divorce settlement of approximately $644 million.”
This ruling underscores the complexity of separating personal marital assets from corporate holdings in South Korea's chaebol system. By ordering a payout of hundreds of millions of dollars, the court affirms that wealth generated through the growth of a family-run conglomerate is subject to division, regardless of the corporate structure. This may influence future high-net-worth divorce cases involving industrial dynasties in the region.
