{
  "id": 5850497,
  "title": "[COVER STORY] From Tiger to Align, shareholder activism takes root in Korea",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/cover-story-from-tiger-to-align-shareholder-activism-takes-root-in-5850497",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-05T22:37:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/20260906/cover-story-from-tiger-to-align-shareholder-activism-takes-root-in-korea"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In 1999, a U.S. fund began challenging SK Telecom, marking the start of shareholder activism in Korea. At the time, the country was still recovering from the Asian financial crisis and its capital markets were only beginning to welcome foreign investors. Tiger Management acquired a 6.6 percent stake in the largest wireless carrier in the nation and pushed for reforms, such as enhancing external oversight and increasing the company's decision-making authority.\n\nThe Chey family, a prominent chaebol dynasty and the controlling family behind SK Group, spent approximately 2 trillion won to safeguard their control over the conglomerate. However, just months after the initial investment, Tiger had already earned around 630 billion won ($463.6 million) by selling its stake. This success only fueled doubts among many companies that foreign investors were profiting at Korea's expense, and this skepticism continued to linger.\n\nIn 2003, Sovereign took on SK Corp., while in 2006, Carl Icahn challenged KT&G. Despite the ongoing shareholder activism, the apprehension towards foreign investors remained, highlighting the evolving dynamics of corporate governance in Korea.",
  "summary": "When a U.S. fund began challenging SK Telecom in 1999, corporate Korea was only beginning to learn what shareholder activism looked like. The country had only recently emerged from the depths of the Asian financial crisis, and its capital markets were opening rapidly to foreign investors. Tiger Management built a 6.6 percent stake in the country's largest wireless carrier and pressed for changes,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "[COVER STORY] Japan's shareholder activism boom: Benchmark for Korea, or cautionary tale?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/cover-story-japans-shareholder-activism-boom-benchmark-for-korea-or",
        "published": "2026-09-05T22:02:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}