Episode summary
SK Chairman Has 'Much, Much Bigger' US Investment Plan | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 39 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec, Isabelle Lee · Guests: Ed Ludlow, Nina Trentmann, Chris Stansbury, Stuart Paul, Richard O'Brien
Summary
SK Hynix’s U.S. listing dominated the conversation, after the South Korean chipmaker raised $26.5 billion in the largest ever U.S. first-time share sale by a foreign company. Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow said the deal was as much about building a U.S. presence and courting American talent and investors as it was about capital, while Chairman Chey Tae-won argued the company already has more than $35 billion invested in the U.S. and has a plan for a “much, much bigger” commitment.
Chey also suggested the memory market’s tightness could last far longer than many expect. He described the company as potentially evolving into “memory as a service,” with customers paying for access to capacity instead of buying chips outright, and said demand for memory may not catch supply until society reaches some settlement with AGI.
The episode also examined Lumen Technologies’ acquisition of Alkira, which management framed as a way to build the networking layer for AI by linking cloud-to-cloud and enterprise-to-cloud traffic. Chris Stansbury said the deal accelerates revenue, supports an inflection in EBITDA this year, and shifts the company from defense to offense.
Finally, the show covered Kevin Warsh’s task-force overhaul at the Fed and the fast-growing non-alcoholic wine market, where Geon Wine said U.S. demand is expanding beyond abstainers to regular wine drinkers seeking moderation.
Key takeaways
- Chey Tae-won said SK already has more than $35 billion invested in the U.S. and plans a “much, much bigger” commitment.
- Ed Ludlow said the $26.5 billion ADR sale was also about attracting American investors and talent, not just raising capital.
- The guest said SK Hynix sees memory shortages lasting until demand is normalized by AGI-related computing needs.
- Chris Stansbury said Lumen expects EBITDA to inflect this year as Alkira helps it monetize AI networking.
- The Fed segment emphasized Kevin Warsh’s effort to bring outside expertise into communications, data, and balance-sheet policy.
- Geon Wine said U.S. demand for non-alcoholic wine is increasingly coming from regular wine drinkers, not just abstainers.
Notable quotes
“My plan is that the much bigger number. So uh”
“I have some confident and the demand will be grow and uh uh our supply capacity never going to catch up”
“The problem uh is real where uh data volumes are exploding”
“the consumer has really expanded out from where it was seven years ago uh until today”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
We have safe to say been counting down to this all week. We're talking about the US listing of uh a giant maker of memory chips. We're talking about SKH Highix happened today.
It raised 26.5 billion in its uh American depository receipt offering. the South Korean chipmaker um powering through really what's been a volatile market certainly in its home market to deliver the largest ever US first-time share sale by a foreign company. Um I feel like I should bring in Ed Ledllo first before we go to some sound from your incredible interview.
Everybody in the newsroom was watching. Um he is of course the host of Bloomberg Tech on Bloomberg television. Ed, this was a big deal.
It was a big deal. Not not just because of the the record that you outlined. Okay.
the biggest first time US uh share sale by a foreign company. The the last by the way was Alibaba. So like that gives you a sense of the tech company they're in.
But like with what's happening right now in the landscape for semiconductors and memory chips, you know, SK, it's an eye watering number 26.5 billion. But SKH highix is so capital committed in Korea domestically and around the world. We can get to the US part of that that actually in the scheme of things 26.5 billion is small.
It was as much about getting in front of Americans.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- memory as a service
- sk hynix us investment plan
- lumen data-center fiber deals
- alkira acquisition
- fed task forces
Companies and tickers mentioned
- LUMN
- SK Hynix Inc.
- SK Group
- Lumen
- Alkira
- Giesen Wine
Watch the episode
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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