Nephew of Chairman Chey Tae-won
Leaves SK Innovation's North American Subsidiary
Seonggeun Choi, the eldest son of Choi Jaewon, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group, has recently completed hands-on experience in global business at SK and is now preparing to continue his studies. Both within and outside the business community, this move is being interpreted as part of efforts to build a global management network and strengthen his leadership capabilities.
According to the business community on July 11, Seonggeun Choi recently left Passkey, the North American investment subsidiary of SK Innovation E&S, and is preparing to enter Harvard Business School (MBA) in the United States. His father, Choi Jaewon, is the younger brother of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, making Seonggeun Choi the chairman's nephew.
Seonggeun Choi, eldest son of Choi Jaewon, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group. Screenshot of Seonggeun Choi's LinkedIn.
Born in 1991, Seonggeun Choi joined Passkey in July last year, where he was responsible for investment and management in the U.S. energy solutions business. Before joining Passkey, he worked for three years as an engineer in the Building Energy Management System (BEMS) sector at Redaptive, a U.S. energy consulting firm. He graduated from Brown University in the United States and earned a master's degree from Tsinghua University in China.
Passkey, where Seonggeun Choi worked for about a year, is the organization overseeing SK Innovation E&S's U.S. energy solutions business. It invests in and manages local companies in areas such as electric vehicle charging and grid energy storage systems (ESS). His father, Senior Vice Chairman Choi, serves as both Chairman of the Board and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Passkey.
Having gained a sense of global business through his experience in the North American energy industry, Seonggeun Choi is expected to continue his management training through further studies. Likewise, Chey Tae-won's eldest son, Ingeun Chey, joined SK Innovation E&S's strategic planning team as a new employee in 2020, worked at Passkey, and then moved to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company on July 3.
The business community sees Seonggeun Choi's pursuit of an MBA as a step toward building a global management network and strengthening his leadership capabilities. An SK official stated, "We understand that Seonggeun Choi gained ample on-site experience in the U.S. energy solutions industry while working at Passkey," and added, "After much consideration about his future path, he decided to continue his studies in agreement with the company, based on his own judgment."
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