{"id":78913,"date":"2026-10-01T12:32:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T12:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/the-man-behind-one-of-the-worlds-most-played-shooters-was-just-hit-with-a-record-1-9-billion-divorce-bill\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T12:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T12:32:26","slug":"the-man-behind-one-of-the-worlds-most-played-shooters-was-just-hit-with-a-record-1-9-billion-divorce-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/the-man-behind-one-of-the-worlds-most-played-shooters-was-just-hit-with-a-record-1-9-billion-divorce-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Behind One of the World&#8217;s Most-Played Shooters Was Just Hit With a Record $1.9 Billion Divorce Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin was ordered to transfer 35% of the company to Lee Hwa-jin.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">CrossFire has generated $14.7B in sales, making Smilegate\u2019s ownership shift significant.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Kwon may challenge the $1.9B settlement after Smilegate\u2019s single-owner structure was upended.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kwon Hyuk-bin built Smilegate into a closely held gaming empire powered by CrossFire and Lost Ark, a company he still owns outright and rarely talks about in public. On 9\/9\/2026, a Seoul court ordered him to pay a 2.55 trillion won divorce settlement, about $1.9 billion, including handing over 35% of Smilegate to Lee Hwa-jin. Reported by Bloomberg, the decision stands as South Korea\u2019s largest ever property division payout, more than doubling the previous record. For a founder whose wealth was pegged at $3 billion days earlier, the verdict turns a private breakup into a high-stakes reshuffle of one of Korea\u2019s biggest game companies.<\/p>\n<p>Some tech fortunes are built quietly, then exposed all at once. That is what happened this month around Smilegate, the privately held South Korean game publisher with a real footprint among US players thanks to global PC hits. Bloomberg reported that a Seoul court just attached a startling price tag to that empire, and it centers on ownership itself.<\/p>\n<h2>A court order that rewrites a cap table<\/h2>\n<p>On September 9, 2026, the Seoul Family Court ordered <b>Kwon Hyuk-bin<\/b>, Smilegate\u2019s founder, to pay a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-09-09\/court-hits-billionaire-gamer-with-record-divorce-bill-yonhap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>$1.9 billion<\/b> divorce settlement<\/a>. The ruling includes transferring <b>35%<\/b> of Smilegate\u2019s shares to his ex-wife, Lee Hwa-jin. Local coverage characterized it as the largest property division payout ever recorded in South Korea, and the settlement more than doubled the country\u2019s prior divorce award record.<\/p>\n<p>For American readers used to seeing shareholder fights play out through public filings, this one lands differently: Smilegate is unlisted, and before the order Kwon owned 100% of it. That makes the court-mandated share transfer not just a cash figure, but a forced reshaping of control in a company that has largely operated outside the spotlight.<\/p>\n<h2>The business behind CrossFire and Lost Ark<\/h2>\n<p>Kwon founded Smilegate in June 2002, and the company is headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, outside Seoul. It sits behind the shooter <b>CrossFire<\/b> and the role-playing title <b>Lost Ark<\/b>, and it has built a steady licensing machine around them. According to The Korea Times, CrossFire has generated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreatimes.co.kr\/business\/companies\/20260913\/smilegate-founders-divorce-suit-draws-attention-to-game-empire-built-in-silence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>$14.7 billion<\/b> in cumulative global sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The same report says Smilegate receives more than $378 million a year in royalties from publishing partnerships, including with Tencent. It is also described as Korea\u2019s fifth-largest game company by sales, while Kwon is known for rarely making public appearances outside charity events.<\/p>\n<h2>A marriage timeline that turned into a multiyear case<\/h2>\n<p>Kwon and Lee married in 2001, a year before Smilegate was founded. Lee filed for divorce in 2022 after more than 20 years of marriage, and she sought a 50% stake, arguing she helped finance the company early on. The case stretched across multiple hearings, including one on May 27, 2026 where Lee appeared in person.<\/p>\n<p>The court ultimately recognized that Smilegate\u2019s founding and growth were not solely attributable to Kwon, while Kwon\u2019s side argued Lee was neither a co-founder nor involved in management. Game World Observer later reported the result as <a href=\"https:\/\/gameworldobserver.com\/2026\/09\/14\/the-ex-wife-of-the-smilegate-founder-won-35-of-the-companys-shares-in-a-lawsuit-against-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>35% of the company\u2019s shares<\/b><\/a>, and Kwon could still challenge the size of the property division.<\/p>\n<h2>What changes when the founder no longer owns it all<\/h2>\n<p>Just days before the ruling, Bloomberg\u2019s Billionaires Index estimated Kwon\u2019s fortune at $3 billion, and noted he is 52 years old. When a founder\u2019s wealth is so concentrated in private equity, a court-ordered transfer of this scale can alter not only personal finances but also how a company negotiates partnerships, succession planning, and internal governance.<\/p>\n<p>For Smilegate, the immediate fact is simple and enormous: a studio built under single-owner control is now set to be split by judicial order, with <b>35%<\/b> moving out of the founder\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/featured\/the-man-behind-one-of-the-worlds-most-played-shooters-was-just-hit-with-a-record-1-9-billion-divorce-bill-49201\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin was ordered to transfer 35% of the company to Lee Hwa-jin. CrossFire has generated $14.7B in sales, making Smilegate\u2019s ownership shift significant. Kwon may challenge the $1.9B settlement after Smilegate\u2019s single-owner structure was upended. Kwon Hyuk-bin built Smilegate into a closely held [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":78914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}