Kwon Hyuk-bin: Tycoon to pay ex-wife $1.87bn in record South Korea divorce settlement – BBC News
A South Korean court records the largest divorce settlement in the country’s history
By Kelly Ng | Published 29 minutes ago
A South Korean court has ordered gaming tycoon Kwon Hyuk-bin to pay his ex-wife an unprecedented 2.55 trillion won ($1.87 billion; £1.38 billion) in assets, marking the largest divorce settlement in the country’s history.
Kwon, who founded South Korea’s third-largest video game company, Smilegate, is one of the nation’s richest men, with a net worth estimated at $3 billion by Bloomberg.
Until Wednesday, Smilegate was wholly owned by Kwon. The court ruled that he transfer a 35% stake, valued at approximately 2.5 trillion won, to his wife, Lee Hwa-jin. Additionally, he was ordered to pay her 65 billion won in cash.
This settlement surpasses the previous record of 944 billion won set by tech titan Chey Tae-won, who was ordered to pay his ex-wife in July this year. However, that ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court due to a calculation error.
Lee had sought a 50% stake in Smilegate during their divorce proceedings, arguing that she contributed financially and domestically to the company’s founding. Kwon, in turn, claimed she neither invested nor worked for the company.
A Smilegate spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, stating, "We will continue to faithfully perform our duties as usual."
Both parties have the option to appeal the ruling.
