Chey Tae-won: SK Hynix U.S. Listing Is a Historic Moment; Planning Tens of Billions in AI Investment

▲ SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won attending the SK Hynix ADR listing ceremony

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won described the listing of SK Hynix on the U.S. Nasdaq as a historic moment, stating, "SK acquired Hynix 15 years ago, and it was like a dream, but now that dream has become a reality."

Chairman Chey appeared on CNBC immediately after the company's Nasdaq listing on July 10 (local time) and remarked, "We have been waiting for this moment for a very long time."

Chairman Chey noted that the U.S. listing allows SK Hynix to "access the global capital market," which he called a "truly wonderful thing." He also expressed expectations that the company would be able to "easily recruit many talents from around the world" through mechanisms such as stock options in the U.S. market.

He further assessed that "having new U.S. and global shareholders provides us with the momentum to build a new governance structure."

When asked if investors in the U.S. market might be entering at a peak, Chairman Chey replied that this is not the case because we are in the "era of artificial intelligence (AI), where the demand structure itself is different."

He explained that while the traditional semiconductor market's demand was determined by the number of users or hardware devices, the AI era "requires an enormous amount of memory chips," leading to "exponential growth in demand."

Regarding whether SK Hynix is considering additional semiconductor fab investments in the U.S. beyond the packaging plant in Indiana, Chairman Chey stated, "Our team is currently reviewing it."

While there are no plans beyond the $4 billion investment in Indiana at this moment, he left the door open for further investment in the U.S. if a suitable location is found.

On the topic of AI-related investments worldwide, including in the U.S., Chairman Chey said, "We are expecting investments of at least tens of billions of dollars." He added that, separate from memory chips, "we are looking for much larger investments in AI, AI data centers, technology, and startups."

He added, "This includes joint ventures with partners and any other forms of AI business," and "we expect to see very large investments (by SK) in those areas in the near future."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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