Dell's family fund pays 559,400 won a share for SK Inc, 4.7% under the price on Chey's other block
Michael Dell's family-office fund is buying 1.34% of SK Inc from chairman Chey Tae-won for 544 billion won, about $406 million at 1,339.6 won. The block is 58% of the 944 billion won Chey is raising for a divorce settlement.
The Investor · Invest desk
Key figures: at the Korea Investment & Securities per-share price, the Dell fund's block would have fetched about 27 billion won more. Korea Investment pays about 587,000 won per SK Inc share. The Dell fund's block is 972,493 SK Inc common shares.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extra at Korea Investment's per-share price | 27 bn won, about | 18 | |
| Korea Investment price per share | 587,000 won, about | 16 | |
| SK Inc shares in Dell block | 972,493 shares | 2 |
What happened
- Chey also entered a three-year price return swap on that block, under which he keeps the gain if the stock rises and absorbs the loss if it falls.
- Before the buyer was named, SK described it only as a strategic investor that had weighed SK Inc's business competitiveness and medium- to long-term growth prospects.
- In August SK hynix delivered a keynote at Dell Technologies Forum 2026 in Seoul as a representative partner and showed its sixth-generation HBM4 memory.
Why it matters
- contradiction The supplier link is an inference. Reuters reported in May that tech companies offered to fund dedicated memory lines at SK Hynix, while this purchase is holding-company shares bought by a family fund whose tie to Dell Technologies is unconfirmed.
- cost If the blocks were comparable, Chey took about 27 billion won less on the Dell block than the Korea Investment price implies, or 2.8% of the 944 billion won he is raising.
- exposure Chey and both buyers would have to file as joint holders if any informal agreement on voting exists, and the governance forum says failing to do so would breach the capital markets law.
Divide each price by its share count and the two blocks stop looking alike. The Dell fund's 544 billion won for 972,493 shares is about 559,400 won a share [15]; Korea Investment & Securities' 400 billion won for 681,431 shares is about 587,000 [16]. That is a gap of 4.7% [17], on contracts Chey signed on the same day, October 2 [4].
We think most of the gap is the swap's reference price, and that the Dell fund did not get a discount in any ordinary sense. Chey's three-year price return swap on the Korea Investment block settles the difference between the eventual disposal price and an agreed reference price, so he keeps the gain if SK Inc rises and the loss if it falls [13]. The swap in the report is tied to that block only [13], so we would treat the 587,000 as partly a financing term. The view fails if the reference price sat at market, because then the Dell fund bought below it. The reports do not include the reference price or SK Inc's closing price on October 2, and the two together would settle it.
The dollar figure depends on who converts. Both accounts give 544 billion won [1][11]. One puts it at $406 million using 1,339.6 won to the dollar [12]; the other puts it at $380 million and does not state its rate [11]. That implies about 1,432 won to the dollar [20], so the $26 million difference [21] is conversion.
On the 13th, SK said it could not provide details on a private transaction between individuals [7]. On the 6th, before the filing named the buyer, the Korea Corporate Governance Forum had asked for an explanation of whether the sale was designed to circumvent the "3% rule" that is to be strengthened at next year's shareholder meetings [24]. The forum also said the strategic-investor description suggested aligned interests, and that the fund could therefore be deemed a joint holder with Chey [25].
What to watch
- SK Inc's closing price on October 2 and the swap's reference price: together they show whether the 4.7% gap is a discount to the Dell fund or a financing term on the Korea Investment block.
- Any amended large shareholding report or joint-holder filing by Chey, DFO Public Investments or Korea Investment & Securities after the governance forum's challenge.
- A Dell Technologies or SK Hynix disclosure that ties the fund to HBM supply or dedicated production lines; absent one, the stake stays a family-office position.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence78
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives55
- Confidence72
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won agreed to sell a 1.34% stake in holding company SK Inc to an investment fund linked to Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell for 544 billion won ($406 million), a regulatory filing showed.
- [2]
A large shareholding report filed by SK on the 13th names DFO Public Investments, L.P., a Delaware fund managed by DFO Management, which oversees the Dell family's assets, as buyer of 972,493 common shares of SK Inc, or 1.34%.
- [3]
The deal is part of Chey's plan to raise 944 billion won through share sales to pay a divorce settlement to his former wife.
- [4]
Chey signed a contract on October 2 to sell a combined 1,653,924 SK Inc shares for 944 billion won.
- [5]
Of the shares Chey agreed to sell, 681,431 shares, or 0.94%, will be sold to Korea Investment & Securities for 400 billion won.
- [6]
SK had previously identified the buyer of the remaining shares only as a strategic investor, saying the investor agreed to buy after considering SK Inc's business competitiveness and medium- to long-term growth prospects.
- [7]
On the 13th SK said it could not provide details on a private transaction between individuals.
- [8]
Dell Technologies, a major supplier of AI servers and data centre infrastructure, has business ties with SK Hynix; the stake is being acquired by a Dell family investment fund, not by Dell Technologies itself.
- [9]
In August, SK hynix took part in Dell Technologies Forum 2026 at COEX in Seoul, where it showcased sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) and delivered a keynote address as a representative partner.
- [10]
The fund's investment objective and any business link to Dell Technologies have not been confirmed.
- [11]
Seoul Economic Daily put the 544 billion won stake at $380 million and did not state the exchange rate used.
- [12]
The source converted won to dollars at $1 = 1,339.6 won.
- [13]
Chey entered a three-year price return swap tied to the stake being sold to Korea Investment & Securities; the difference between the actual disposal price of the shares and the agreed reference price is settled at maturity, so Chey gains if the stock rises and absorbs losses if it falls.
- [14]
Reuters reported in May that global technology companies had approached SK Hynix with proposals to invest in dedicated memory chip production lines and help finance costly manufacturing equipment.
- [15]
The Dell fund pays about 559,400 won per SK Inc share.
- [16]
Korea Investment & Securities pays about 587,000 won per SK Inc share.
- [17]
The Dell fund's per-share price is about 4.7% below the Korea Investment & Securities per-share price.
- [18]
At the Korea Investment & Securities per-share price the Dell block would have fetched about 27 billion won more.
- [19]
The roughly 27 billion won difference is about 2.8% of the 944 billion won Chey is raising.
- [20]
Seoul Economic Daily's $380 million implies an exchange rate of about 1,432 won to the dollar.
- [21]
The two dollar conversions of the same 544 billion won differ by $26 million.
- [22]
The Dell block is about 58% of the 944 billion won Chey is raising.
- [23]
The Korea Corporate Governance Forum said Chey and the buyers would be required to disclose their stakes as joint holdings if they had agreed, even informally, to exercise voting rights in the same way, and that failure to do so would violate South Korea's capital markets law.
- [24]
In a commentary on the 6th, the Korea Corporate Governance Forum argued that an explanation is needed on whether the share sale was designed to circumvent the "3% rule", which will be strengthened at next year's shareholder meetings.
- [25]
The forum said a strategic investor suggested their interests could be aligned, raising the possibility that the fund could be deemed a joint holder with Chey under the law.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- channelnewsasia.comSK Group Chairman Chey sells stake to Dell family office fund for $406 million
1 article · October 13, 2026
- en.sedaily.comMichael Dell Fund Buys $380 Million SK Stake From Chey Tae-won
1 article · October 13, 2026
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Topics
- South Korean chaebolFollow
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Entities
- SK hynixFollow
- DFO ManagementFollow
- Korea Investment & SecuritiesFollow
- Michael DellFollow
- SK Inc.Follow
- Chey Tae-wonFollow
- Dell Technologies Inc.Follow
- Korea Corporate Governance ForumFollow