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Chey Tae-won

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In this Korean name, the family name is Chey.
Chey Tae-won
최태원
Chey in 2023
Born (1960-12-03) 3 December 1960 (age 63)
Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Other namesAnthony Chey[1]
EducationKorea University (BS)
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1998–present
Title
  • Chairperson of SK Group
  • Chairperson of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 2024)​
Children4
FatherChey Jong-hyun [ko]
Korean name
Hangul
최태원
Hanja
Revised RomanizationChoe Tae-won
McCune–ReischauerCh'oe T'aewŏn

Chey Tae-won (Korean: 최태원; born December 3, 1960) is a South Korean billionaire businessman who is a chairperson of SK Group, the country's second largest conglomerate[2] that mainly engages in energy, chemicals, telecommunications, semiconductor, and biopharmaceutical businesses. It has 186 subsidiaries including SK Telecom, SK Hynix, and SK Innovation. Chey is known for the group's SK Hynix merger deal, which eventually becomes the world fourth largest chipmaker behind Samsung Electronics, Intel, and TSMC. As of June 2021, he is the 14th richest person in South Korea with an estimated net worth of US$3.6 billion. The bulk of his fortune comes from SK Inc., holding company of SK Group.

Chey has been chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) since March 2021.[3]

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.[4][5][6] 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.[7] He had been chairman of SK Innovation since 2011 and chairman of SK Hynix since 2012.[8] He has been chairman of SK Telecom since February 2022.[9] 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.[10] In January 2013, Chey was found guilty, and was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Seoul District Court.[11] He was incarcerated near Seoul until his pardon in August 2015.[12]

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).[7]

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.[13]

Personal life

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Chey is married with Roh Soh-yeong, art director and daughter of former South Korea president Roh Tae-woo.[14] They have been separated since September 2011,[15] and in December 2015, he announced his intention to divorce.[16] In December 2022, the Seoul Family Court approved the divorce, and Chey kept most of his shares.[17] As part of the divorce, a court ordered Chey to pay $1 billion to his former wife.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Anthony Chey, SK Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg News.
  2. ^ a b "SK Group jumps to No. 2 in South Korea's largest corporate groups by assets". Korea IT Times. 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  3. ^ "Chey Tae-won named as incoming KCCI chief". The Korea Herald. 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  4. ^ "< SK 최씨 일가의 대 이은 시카고大 사랑 > | 연합뉴스 : 바른언론 빠른뉴스". www.yonhapnews.co.kr. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  5. ^ "Authors". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  6. ^ "The Investor". www.theinvestor.co.kr. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. ^ a b "Tae-won Chey, Chairman and CEO". SK. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  8. ^ "Chey Tae-Won – World Policy Conference". Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  9. ^ "SK Group chief Chey to assume chairman post at SK Telecom". Yonhap News Agency. 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  10. ^ "#8 Chey Tae-Won". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  11. ^ "SKorea chaebol chief sentenced to 4 years prison - Yahoo Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  12. ^ "SK chairman freed from prison for special pardon". Korea IT Times. 2015-08-14. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  13. ^ "KCCI chairman seeks international support for Busan's bid to host World Expo". The Korea Times. 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  14. ^ Jaewon, Kim (2023-09-27). "SK Group's divorce drama forces courts to weigh breaking up chaebol". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  15. ^ "SK Chairman and Roh tae-woo's daughter expected to divorce : Business : News : The Hankyoreh". The Hankyoreh. 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  16. ^ "SK head Chey to divorce ex-president's daughter: report". English.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  17. ^ 유, 청모 (2022-12-06). "Court approves divorce, property division for SK chief Chey and wife Roh". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  18. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (2024-05-30). "South Korean tech conglomerate SK Inc. surges 16% after chair's $1 billion divorce settlement". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
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