S Korea tycoon to pay ex-wife $1.87bn in record divorce settlement
Kwon, who founded gaming company Smilegate, is one of Korea's richest men with a net worth of $3bn.
S Korea tycoon to pay ex-wife $1.87bn in record divorce settlement
A South Korean court has ordered gaming tycoon Kwon Hyuk-bin to pay his ex-wife 2.55tr won ($1.87bn; £1.38bn) in assets, setting the biggest divorce settlement in the country’s history.
Kwon, founder of South Korea’s third-largest video game company Smilegate, is among the nation’s wealthiest people. Bloomberg estimates his net worth at $3bn.
Until Wednesday, Smilegate was entirely owned by him, but a court ruled that a 35% stake, worth about 2.5tr won, must be handed over to his wife Lee Hwa-jin. He was also told to pay her another 65bn won in cash.
The award is more than twice the previous record of 944bn won that tech magnate Chey Tae-won was ordered to give his ex-wife.
When Lee filed for divorce from Kwon, she asked for a 50% stake in Smilegate. Her lawyers said she had helped fund the company when it was founded, according to Bloomberg.
Kwon and Lee married in 2001, one year before he launched Smilegate. The company’s best-known games include the first-person shooter CrossFire and the action role-playing game Lost Ark.
Lee also said she had spent more than 20 years raising their children and looking after the household.
Kwon, meanwhile, said Lee had neither invested in nor worked for the company. Earlier this year, Smilegate issued a statement saying all of the company’s initial capital came from Kwon.
A Smilegate spokesperson declined to "comment on the major shareholder's personal matters".
"We will continue to faithfully perform our duties as usual," they said in a statement cited by The Chosun Daily.
Both sides may still appeal the decision.
In July this year, Chey Tae-won, chairman of the conglomerate SK Group, was ordered to pay his ex-wife 944bn won, which before today’s ruling was the largest divorce payout in Korean history.
But the Supreme Court later overturned that decision, pointing to a miscalculation that had inflated the value of the couple’s assets. It has ordered the case to be reconsidered.