A South Korean AI billionaire who blew up his marriage by fathering a child with another woman won’t have to fork over the nearly $1 billion his ex-wife had sought — after a court instead ordered him to pay roughly $645 million in cash on Friday.
The ruling brings a possible end to South Korea’s so-called “divorce of the century,” capping a decade-long legal saga that mixed a billionaire’s affair, a former president’s family, alleged slush-fund money and one of Asia’s hottest artificial-intelligence fortunes.
Chey Tae-won, the 65-year-old chairman of South Korea’s SK Group, built much of his fortune through the AI boom as shares of memory-chip giant SK Hynix — a key supplier to Nvidia — soared in recent years.
His wealth, estimated at roughly $5 billion before Friday’s ruling, had become the centerpiece of the courtroom fight after his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong, demanded half his fortune.
Instead, the appeals court awarded Roh about one-third of the wealth calculated by the judges, valuing Chey’s holdings before SK’s shares exploded during the AI frenzy.
Chey’s lawyers said they were reviewing the ruling and did not rule out another appeal to South Korea’s Supreme Court.
The bitter divorce battle traces back to a stunning public confession in 2015.
In a three-page letter published by a South Korean newspaper, Chey announced that he wanted what he called a “clean end” to his 27-year marriage, revealing he had fallen in love with another woman and fathered a child with her.
The revelation shattered a marriage that had once been celebrated as South Korea’s “marriage of the century.”
Chey and Roh, the daughter of former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo, married at the presidential Blue House in 1988 just months after her father took office. The union linked one of the country’s most powerful business dynasties with its first family in a lavish ceremony that captivated the nation.
Roh initially vowed to keep the family together and resist a divorce before eventually changing course and demanding half of Chey’s fortune.
The other woman, Kim Hee-young, who uses the English name Chloe, is now Chey’s longtime partner. Roh later sued Kim over the affair, and a court ordered Chey and Kim to jointly pay her roughly $1.5 million in damages after finding the affair and the child born outside the marriage contributed to the breakdown of the marriage.
The divorce fight later widened into a battle over the origins of the SK empire itself.
Roh’s lawyers submitted a handwritten note apparently saved by her mother that listed “Sunkyong” — SK’s former name — alongside “30 billion won.”
They argued it supported claims that Roh’s father secretly funneled money to Chey’s father that helped expand the family business. Chey’s lawyers denied SK ever received the alleged funds.
The dispute grew even more expensive as SK Hynix emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom. The company’s memory chips have become critical components in Nvidia’s AI systems, sending the stock soaring and more than doubling Chey’s net worth.