A New Lease On Life

A New Lease On Life

- Donald Kirk

Nothing like a change of both name and ownership to reverse the fortunes of a company that was in trouble for years. Memory-chip manufacturer SK Hynix has seen its revenue and earnings climb dramatically since SK Group took over in early 2012, and this year it cracks the Fab 50 list for the first time.

SK Hynix was born in 1983 as the Hyundai empire’s answer to Samsung Electronics. It went public in 1996, and Hyundai completely spun it off in 2001. By then its name was Hynix—from “Hy” in Hyundai and “nix” from “nics” in electronics. Over the next ten years, it was in and out of financial trouble until SK Telecom, a pillar of SK Group, bought a 20.5 percent stake from its creditor banks and added SK to its name.