This week the Family Business Office, for its 29^th edition of Focus On goes east yet again bringing you South Korean world giant family business SK Group , headed by Chey Tae Won, second generation heir and chairman.

Chey Tae-won (born December 3, 1960) is a South Korean business magnate. He is the chairman of SK Group, Korea’s third largest conglomerate that mainly engages in oil, telecom, semiconductors, and chemical businesses.

SK began life as a textile spinning family business before branching out into such diverse fields as oil refining and communications. SK Telecom is South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, while SK Hynix is one of the world’s leading producers of memory chips. SK Group has 143 subsidiaries including SK Telecom, SK Hynix, and SK Innovation through SK Holdings. Chey is well 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 Holdings, holding company of SK Group.

Chey Tae-won serves as the Chairman and CEO of SK Holdings. He oversees and orchestrates 86 companies that comprise SK Group.

Chairman Chey began his career in SK Group in 1991. He gained global insights and experience as the Managing Director at Yukong Ltd., now known as SK Innovation (previously SK Corp). He was appointed Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Group in 1998. With his innovative and dynamic leadership, the Group has steadily expanded over the years. As the 57th largest enterprise among the Fortune 500 in 2015, SK Group is considered a leading family business in this part of the world.

Chey attended Korea University where he received a bachelor’s degree in physics, and then studied at University of Chicago as a graduate student. In Chicago, Chey met his future wife, the daughter of former South Korea president, Roh Tae-woo. The Chey family has deep ties with the University of Chicago as Chey’s father, the founder of the group, as well as his wife and eldest daughter all attended. He is married and has three children.

( All factual and statistical information presented in this blog has been obtained from an extract of articles found on shanghaiforum.com and Wikipedia biographies.com ) Follow us on our Facebook page and Family Business Office website at www.familybusiness.org.mt

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