A South Korean court has ordered billionaire SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former wife more than $640 million in a divorce settlement that could require him to sell assets, take on debt or pledge shares as collateral.

The Seoul High Court ruled Friday that Chey must pay Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion won, or about $645 million, in what is the largest divorce asset award in South Korean history. The case has been described as South Korea’s so-called “divorce of the century.”

The amount is significantly below the 1.38 trillion won, or about $935 million, awarded by an appeals court in 2024. Even so, the revised decision has again drawn investor attention to Chey’s holdings and the question of how he could fund the payment.

Analysts said Chey may have to sell assets or borrow against his shares, although they do not expect the award to jeopardize his control of SK Group.

Chey owns a 17.9% stake in SK Inc., the conglomerate’s holding company, and has an estimated net worth of $5.4 billion, according to Forbes. The funding question is sensitive because large South Korean family-run conglomerates often rely on strategic stakes in holding companies to maintain control across sprawling business groups.

The court ordered the settlement to be paid in cash rather than through a transfer of stock, citing the importance of Chey’s shareholding to maintaining control of the conglomerate.

Shares of SK Inc. closed 3.8% lower Friday, while SK Hynix fell 8.3% in Seoul trading after the ruling.

SK Group’s global profile has increased sharply during the artificial intelligence boom through SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used with Nvidia’s AI processors. That has made governance and ownership questions at the group more closely watched by global technology investors, even though the court dispute is a personal divorce case.

Judges awarded Roh one-third of the couple’s marital property after determining that she contributed to preserving and increasing the family’s wealth during the marriage.

The ruling came after South Korea’s Supreme Court rejected claims that alleged financial support from Roh’s father, former President Roh Tae-woo, should be included in the asset calculation.

Either side may appeal Friday’s ruling, which could send the property-division dispute back to the Supreme Court.

Reuters contributed to this report.