From Chey Tae-won's early succession to SK's No. 2 conglomerate ranking — three decade-scale eras of ownership and governance change. The 2003 Sovereign challenge exposed the family's thin equity base. In 2007, SK Corp.'s holding-company conversion removed the existing circular shareholding structure; under the prohibition on new circular shareholdings, the count has remained at zero. In 2012, SK acquired the creditors' Hynix stake for approximately KRW 3.4 trillion, shifting its strategic portfolio toward semiconductors.
Era
Year · status
Affiliates
Total assets (KRW trillion)
Era
Affiliate count
KFTC designations, 2001–2025 (odd years) · 2001 and 2025 verified; intermediate years approximate · unit: companies
Total assets
KFTC designations, 2001–2025 (odd years) · 2001 and 2025 verified; intermediate years approximate · unit: KRW trillion
Governance Evolution Animation: 1998 → 2026
Press play or drag the slider to see the structure for each year. The C&C→SK Corp. circular link (red dashed line) disappears when the 2007 holding-company conversion removes the existing circular structure; under the prohibition on new circular shareholdings, the count remains zero. The 2012 acquisition of the creditors' Hynix stake for approximately KRW 3.4 trillion, the 2015 C&C merger and subsequent IPOs appear over time.
1998
Governance Snapshots by Era
Red dashed lines = circular shareholding links · black dashed ellipse = designated controller · ownership percentages are approximate for a representative point in each era
ERA 1 · 1998–2007
Early Succession and the Sovereign Challenge
1998: Chey Jong-hyon dies; Chey Tae-won succeeds him early at age 38
2003: KRW 1.5 trillion accounting fraud at SK Global; Chey Tae-won is arrested
Sovereign builds a 14.99% stake and demands his exit — the first major control challenge to a chaebol
The vulnerability of the owner's roughly 1% direct stake becomes clear
ERA 2 · 2008–2017
Holding Structure and Hynix
2007: SK Corp. converts to a holding company, removing the existing circular structure; with new circular shareholdings prohibited, the count remains zero
2012: SK acquires the creditors' Hynix stake for approximately KRW 3.4 trillion, strategically shifting the portfolio toward semiconductors
2015: SK C&C merges with SK Corp., completing the owner's direct-control structure
Affiliates rise from 77 to 96; assets expand from KRW 86 trillion to KRW 171 trillion
ERA 3 · 2018–PRESENT
Expansion and No. 2 Ranking
2020–22 listings — BioPharm, SKIET and others prompt discussion of spin-off listings
2021: SK Square is spun off, refining the intermediate holding-company structure
2022: assets reach approximately KRW 292 trillion, overtaking Hyundai Motor Group for No. 2; the 2025 and 2026 KFTC designations retain No. 2
Divorce property division: KRW 1.38 trillion at the 2024 appeal → Supreme Court remand in 2025 → KRW 944 billion at the July 2026 retrial; not yet final, with a potential equity-related governance variable
Major Event Timeline
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