5 trillion giant dives! South Korea’s sky-high divorce case hits the screens
South Korean memory chip giant collapsed again! On July 24, the South Korean stock market plunged sharply. As of the close, South Korea's KOSPI index fell by 5.72%, and the KOSPI200 index fell by more than 6%. The two major memory chip giants, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, fell 8.34% and 7.59% respectively, with their total market value shrinking to 1,253 trillion won (approximately RMB 5.76 trillion) and 1,459 trillion won (approximately RMB 6.71 trillion) respectively.
South Korean memory chip giant collapsed again! On July 24, the South Korean stock market plunged sharply. As of the close, South Korea's KOSPI index fell by 5.72%, and the KOSPI200 index fell by more than 6%. The two major memory chip giants, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, fell 8.34% and 7.59% respectively, with their total market value shrinking to 1,253 trillion won (approximately RMB 5.76 trillion) and 1,459 trillion won (approximately RMB 6.71 trillion) respectively. Among them, SK Hynix’s market value evaporated by 114 trillion won in a single day, equivalent to approximately 520 billion yuan. Overnight, the share prices of the seven technology giants in the U.S. stock market plummeted. Market analysts believe that the intensifying selling pressure on global technology stocks is mainly due to the market's doubts about the sustainability of huge capital returns in the AI field, coupled with concerns about inflation rekindled by rising oil prices, which together suppress risk appetite. It is worth noting that the divorce case of SK Hynix Chairman Choi Tae-won once again aroused heated public opinion today. According to a South Korean court ruling on Friday (July 24), Cui Taiyuan needs to pay 944 billion won (approximately RMB 4.3 billion) to his ex-wife for property division. SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics share prices plummet On Friday, South Korea's stock market opened lower and moved lower. South Korea's KOSPI index closed down more than 5%, SK Hynix fell more than 8%, and Samsung Electronics fell more than 7%. On the same day, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell more than 2%, following the overnight sell-off on Wall Street. The recent weakness of the MSCI Asia Pacific Index reflects investors' growing doubts about the sustainability of the AI industry's high capital expenditures. As U.S. tech giants come under scrutiny over their spending, similar concerns have spread to Asian markets, especially those with heavy investments in technology and semiconductors. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the two giants in the semiconductor industry, both saw their share prices fall sharply as investors began to reassess the long-term returns on their AI investments. The continued escalation of the conflict between the United States and Iran has added uncertainty to the global macroeconomic outlook, and Wall Street's concerns about the return rate on hundreds of billions of dollars in AI investment by large technology companies have deepened. On Thursday, U.S. technology stocks suffered a sharp decline, with the market value of the "Big Seven Technology" evaporating approximately US$800 billion in one day. Energy prices have continued to jump in recent days, adding to a market selloff already dominated by technology stocks as investors grapple with uncertainty over returns on AI spending and the prospect of more stubborn inflation. Higher oil prices are complicating the Federal Reserve's policy path ahead of next week's meeting, with money markets now fully pricing in the possibility of a rate hike in September. Sameer Samana of Wells Fargo Investment Institute said: "Escalating tensions in the Middle East have pushed up crude oil prices, raising concerns that inflation may reaccelerate, delaying a rate cut and possibly even causing the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. We believe oil prices will eventually return to normal, but also realize that further deterioration may occur before improving." Global oil inventories are at low levels due to months of conflict, raising the risk of tight supply. If oil prices continue to rise, it may be a drag on the global economy. Strategists at Daiwa Securities said: "Until recently, investors mostly believed that tensions in the Middle East would eventually ease. But as crude oil prices exceeded $90 a barrel, the market began to realize that the situation required more attention." Gerald Gan, chief investment officer of Reed Capital in Singapore, said: "Investors have become increasingly uneasy about the sustainability of the AI market. However, any short-term correction may once again attract bargain hunters. For now, the music has not stopped." Jun Bei Liu, co-founder of hedge fund Ten Cap Investment Management, said: "As far as AI investment is concerned, the entire theme remains unchanged. The only problem is valuation. Those extremely expensive parts of AI transactions will face greater pressure. The subsequent trend must be led by profitability." Choi Tae-won sentenced to pay 4.3 billion yuan to ex-wife Choi Tae-won, the billionaire head of SK Hynix, whose net worth has skyrocketed due to the artificial intelligence boom, is now facing a huge divorce settlement. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Cui Taiyuan is currently worth about US$5.6 billion, and his net worth has more than doubled in the past year.
On Friday, the Seoul High Court in South Korea made a judgment on the divorce property division case between SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won and his ex-wife Noh So-young, ordering Choi Taiyuan to pay 944 billion won (approximately RMB 4.3 billion) to Noh So-young. If the ruling finally takes effect, it will become the most expensive divorce case in South Korea's history. This judgment was made after the South Korean Supreme Court sent the case back for retrial in October last year. The amount of compensation awarded was lower than the 1.38 trillion won decided by the first instance court in 2024. The Seoul High Court ruled on Friday that the shares held by Choi Tae-won in SK Inc., the top holding company of SK Group, should be included in the scope of property division, which is the core focus of the dispute between the two parties. The court found that Noh So-young was entitled to one-third of the joint property of the couple, and the rest belonged to Cui Taiyuan. Cui Taiyuan's lawyer said that he would consider whether to appeal after reviewing the judgment in detail, and said that Cui Taiyuan was deeply sorry for causing social concern due to the case. The divorce proceedings date back to 2017, when Cui Taiyuan officially filed for divorce. In 2015, he publicly admitted that he had an extramarital lover and had a child. Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young married in 1988, and they have three children together. Since then, the court battle has escalated to the Supreme Court of South Korea, and then was sent back to the Seoul High Court for retrial. In May 2024, the Seoul High Court ordered Choi Taiyuan to pay about 1.38 trillion won. At that time, the court found that Noh So-young's father, former President Roh Tae-woo, had provided about 30 billion won in so-called "secret funds" to Choi Taiyuan's father, and regarded this as Noh So-young's contribution to the marriage. However, the Supreme Court later overturned the judgment and pointed out that even if the funds did exist, because they themselves were suspected of being illegal, they could not be used as the basis for property division. After the case was remanded for retrial, the two parties still failed to narrow their differences on many issues, especially whether the shares of SK Inc. held by Cui Taiyuan should be included in the scope of the division. Cui Taiyuan argued that the shares were personal property obtained by inheritance or gift and should not be divided; while Lu Suying believed that based on her contribution in childcare and family affairs, the shares should be regarded as joint property of the couple. SK Hynix is one of the biggest winners from the surge in demand for AI high-bandwidth memory chips. Its soaring market value has driven up the value of the entire SK Group, thereby raising the amount of property division in this case. This month, SK Hynix raised US$26.5 billion in its listing in the United States, setting a record for a foreign issuer and catapulting into global focus. The company's market value has exceeded US$1 trillion. These factors make this divorce compensation amount particularly eye-catching.
On Friday, the Seoul High Court in South Korea made a judgment on the divorce property division case between SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won and his ex-wife Noh So-young, ordering Choi Taiyuan to pay 944 billion won (approximately RMB 4.3 billion) to Noh So-young. If the ruling finally takes effect, it will become the most expensive divorce case in South Korea's history. This judgment was made after the South Korean Supreme Court sent the case back for retrial in October last year. The amount of compensation awarded was lower than the 1.38 trillion won decided by the first instance court in 2024. The Seoul High Court ruled on Friday that the shares held by Choi Tae-won in SK Inc., the top holding company of SK Group, should be included in the scope of property division, which is the core focus of the dispute between the two parties. The court found that Noh So-young was entitled to one-third of the joint property of the couple, and the rest belonged to Cui Taiyuan. Cui Taiyuan's lawyer said that he would consider whether to appeal after reviewing the judgment in detail, and said that Cui Taiyuan was deeply sorry for causing social concern due to the case. The divorce proceedings date back to 2017, when Cui Taiyuan officially filed for divorce. In 2015, he publicly admitted that he had an extramarital lover and had a child. Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young married in 1988, and they have three children together. Since then, the court battle has escalated to the Supreme Court of South Korea, and then was sent back to the Seoul High Court for retrial. In May 2024, the Seoul High Court ordered Choi Taiyuan to pay about 1.38 trillion won. At that time, the court found that Noh So-young's father, former President Roh Tae-woo, had provided about 30 billion won in so-called "secret funds" to Choi Taiyuan's father, and regarded this as Noh So-young's contribution to the marriage. However, the Supreme Court later overturned the judgment and pointed out that even if the funds did exist, because they themselves were suspected of being illegal, they could not be used as the basis for property division. After the case was remanded for retrial, the two parties still failed to narrow their differences on many issues, especially whether the shares of SK Inc. held by Cui Taiyuan should be included in the scope of the division. Cui Taiyuan argued that the shares were personal property obtained by inheritance or gift and should not be divided; while Lu Suying believed that based on her contribution in childcare and family affairs, the shares should be regarded as joint property of the couple. SK Hynix is one of the biggest winners from the surge in demand for AI high-bandwidth memory chips. Its soaring market value has driven up the value of the entire SK Group, thereby raising the amount of property division in this case. This month, SK Hynix raised US$26.5 billion in its listing in the United States, setting a record for a foreign issuer and catapulting into global focus. The company's market value has exceeded US$1 trillion. These factors make this divorce compensation amount particularly eye-catching.