Chey Tae-won is a South Korean business magnate. He is the chairman of SK Group, Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, which operates in energy, chemicals, telecommunications, semiconductors, and biopharmaceuticals. SK Group, through its holding company SK Inc., oversees 186 subsidiaries, including SK Telecom, SK Hynix, and SK Innovation.
Chey is renowned for orchestrating the SK Hynix merger, positioning the company as the world’s fourth-largest chipmaker, trailing only Samsung Electronics, Intel, and TSMC. As of June 2021, with an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion, he ranks as the 14th richest person in South Korea, with the majority of his wealth stemming from SK Inc.
Chey Tae Won Biography, Wiki, Age
Chey Tae-won was born on 3 December 1960 in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Chey Tae-won did his studies at Korea University where he received a bachelor’s degree in physics and Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago, USA, but did not finish. Chey Tae-won’s nationality is South Korean.
Chey Tae Won Wife, Children
Chey Tae-won’s marital status is divorced. Chey Tae-won’s wife was Roh Soh-yeong. She is well-recognized as the art director and daughter of former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo. The couple married in 1988. They have three children- Chey In-keun, Chey Min-jeong, and Choi Yoon-jung.
They have been separated since September 2011, and in December 2015, he announced his intention to divorce. On December 6, 2022, the Seoul Family Court finalized the divorce, allowing Chey to retain most of his shares. The court ordered Chey to pay his former wife $1 billion as part of the settlement.
Chey Tae Won Parents, Siblings
Chey Tae-won’s parents were Choi Jong-hyun and Park Gye-hee. Chey Tae-won’s siblings are Chey Ki-won and Chey Jae-won. Chey Tae-won’s father was chairman of Sunkyung Group (now SK Group). He started his career at SK Corp. as a manager and steadily climbed the ranks, serving as executive director of SK America, executive director of SK Corp., and eventually vice president of SK Corp. After the passing of the former chairman, Chey Jong-hyun, he became the chairman of SK at the young age of 38, without any management disputes. It is said that Chey Yoon-won, the son of the founder Chey Jong-gun, appointed Chey Tae-won as the group leader, stating, “Tae-won is the best among our brothers.”
Chey Tae Won Career
In January 2012, Chey was indicted for embezzling over $40 million from SK companies to cover his trading losses, although he denied any wrongdoing. By January 2013, the Seoul District Court found him guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison. He was incarcerated near Seoul until receiving a pardon in August 2015.
Chey has earned numerous accolades throughout his career, including the “Global Leaders for Tomorrow” award from the World Economic Forum in 1999. He also served as Co-chair at the East Asia Economic Summit in Malaysia in 2002, was a member of the Brookings International Advisory Council in 2010, and acted as the Working Group Convener for the G20 Business Summit that same year. Additionally, he served twice as President of the Korea Handball Federation, in 2008 and 2016.
In May 2022, Chey was appointed by the presidential transition team to lead the civilian committee supporting Busan’s bid to host the World Expo in 2030.
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