AI billionaire who left wife for younger lover ordered to pay $645M in South Koreas divorce of the century
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...