SK Group Chairman Buys SK hynix Shares for the First Time

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has bought shares of SK hynix on the open market for the first time, taking a direct personal stake in the chipmaker he has long controlled only indirectly through the holding company SK Square.

According to a regulatory filing, Chey purchased 3,620 shares on Thursday. Based on SK hynix's closing price of 1.32 million won ($921) that day, the transaction was worth roughly 4.79 billion won. The stake itself is tiny, representing only a fraction of a percent of SK hynix's total outstanding shares, but the move carries symbolic weight as Chey's first personal bet on the company.

SK Square remains SK hynix's largest shareholder, with about 146.1 million shares equal to a 20 percent stake. Combined with Chey's new holding and other affiliated parties, the largest shareholder group's total comes to roughly 146.13 million shares. Market watchers noted that keeping the purchase under 5 billion won allowed Chey to buy immediately, since larger planned stock purchases require a 30-day advance filing under Korean disclosure rules.

The timing follows a sharp pullback in SK hynix's stock. Shares hit a record 2.99 million won on June 25 before sliding to 1.32 million won by Thursday, a drop of more than half in just over a month. Industry observers believe the purchase reflects Chey's view that the recent slide has left the stock undervalued relative to the long-term outlook for memory chip demand.

Chey has repeatedly voiced optimism about the memory chip business in recent public appearances. Speaking at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Jeju Summer Forum on July 17, he said demand for memory chips would keep growing and that SK hynix's stock price would rise over time. "It is better to hold on to the shares" than trade in and out, he told the audience.

The purchase is also being read as part of Chey's broader push for responsible management practices at SK Group, aligning his personal financial interests more closely with those of the company's other shareholders. SK hynix has become the linchpin of the conglomerate's earnings in recent years, driven by booming demand for high-bandwidth memory used in artificial intelligence chips.