A South Korean court has ordered gaming magnate Kwon Hyuk Bin to pay his ex-wife 2.55 trillion won ($1.87 billion; £1.38 billion) in assets, in the largest divorce settlement in the country’s history.
Kwon, who founded South Korea’s third-largest video game company Smilegate, is one of the country’s richest men. Bloomberg estimates his fortune at $3 billion.
Smilegate was entirely his until Wednesday, when a court ruled that a 35% stake worth about 2.5 trillion won should be given to his wife Lee Hwa-jin. He was also ordered to pay her an additional 65 billion won in cash.
The settlement is more than double the previous record of 944 billion won that tech giant Chae Tae-won was ordered to pay to his ex-wife.
By filing for divorce from Kwon, Lee sought a 50% stake in Smilegate. According to Bloomberg, her lawyers argued that she helped finance the company when it was founded.
Kwon and Lee married in 2001, a year before he founded Smilegate. Some of the most famous games include the first-person shooter CrossFire and the role-playing game Lost Ark.
Lee also said that she has dedicated more than 20 years to raising children and caring for her family.
Kwon, in turn, argued that Lee did not invest in or work for the company. Earlier this year, Smilegate released a statement saying that all of the company’s initial capital belonged to Kwon.
A Smilegate spokesman declined to “comment on the personal affairs of the major shareholder.”
“We will continue to carry out our duties faithfully as usual,” they said in a statement quoted by The Chosun Daily.
Both sides can still challenge the decision.
In July this year, Chey Tae-won, chairman of corporate giant SK Group, was ordered to pay his ex-wife 944 billion won, which until today’s ruling was the largest divorce settlement in Korean history.
However, this decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court, citing a miscalculation that increased the value of the couple’s assets. He decided to reconsider the case.