Chey Tae-won's 2012 bet yields SK Hynix $26.5B Nasdaq listing
Business
Back in 2012, South Korean billionaire Chey Tae-won took a chance on struggling chipmaker Hynix, and it's paid off in a big way.
SK Hynix just scored a $26.5 billion Nasdaq listing in July 2026, thanks to Chey's push into high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are now essential for powering AI tech like NVIDIA's accelerators.
SK Hynix invests despite oversupply concerns
Riding the AI wave, SK Hynix grew fast but still faces the usual ups and downs of the chip world: think worries about oversupply and spending slowdowns.
Even so, Chey's bold moves (he is connected through SK Inc.) have turned this once-risky bet into one of South Korea's biggest corporate wins, with major investments lined up to keep up with demand and compete with giants like Samsung.