Chey Tae-Won Net Worth 2026

Chey Tae-won
최태원
Chey in 2023
Born	(1960-12-03) December 3, 1960 (age 65) Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Other name	Anthony Chey[1]
Education	Korea University (BS)
Occupation	Businessman
Years active	1998–present
Title	Chairperson of SK Group Chairperson of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
Spouse	Roh Soh-yeong ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 2025)​ Kim Hee-young ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	4
Father	Chey Jong-hyun [ko]
Korean name
Hangul	최태원
Hanja	崔泰源
RR	Choe Taewon
MR	Ch'oe T'aewŏn

Chey Tae-won (Korean: 최태원; Hanja: 崔泰源; born December 3, 1960) is a South Korean billionaire businessman and the chairman of SK Group, the country's second largest conglomerate,^[2] that includes 186 subsidiaries such as SK Telecom, SK Hynix, and SK Innovation. Chey has been the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) since March 2021.^[3]

Chey is among the richest people in South Korea. In July 2026, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$4.7 billion.^[4]

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.^[5][6][7] 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."

Chey has been chairman of the SK Group since 1998. Chey has held a number of leadership positions across SK's various operating companies.^[8] He had been chairman of SK Innovation since 2011 and chairman of SK Hynix since 2012.^[9] He has been chairman of SK Telecom since February 2022.^[10] 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.^[11] In January 2013, Chey was found guilty, and was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Seoul District Court.^[12] He was incarcerated near Seoul until his pardon in August 2015.^[13]

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).^[8]

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.^[14]

Chey was married to Roh Soh-yeong, art director and daughter of former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo.^[15] They have been separated since September 2011,^[16] and in December 2015, he announced his intention to divorce.^[17] It was revealed that Chey wanted a "clean end" to his 27-year marriage after fathering a child with another woman named Kim Hee-young, who is now Chey's long-term partner.^[18][19] In December 2022, the Seoul Family Court approved the divorce, and Chey kept most of his shares.^[20] As part of the divorce, a court ordered Chey to pay $1 billion to his former wife.^[21] The settlement was overturned in October 2025 by the Supreme Court of Korea, which ordered a review after finding a miscalculation that increased the value of the couple's assets.^[22] In a retrial, however, the Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 ordered Chey to pay ₩944 billion ($644 million)^[23] to Roh, which is 436.8 billion less than the ₩1.3808 trillion ($946 million) ordered before. The divorce has been termed the "divorce of the century" in South Korean media.^[24]