SK hynix, the South Korean semiconductor giant, began trading on Wall Street Friday in the largest U.S. listing ever by a foreign company. The move signals intense investor demand for companies powering the artificial intelligence boom.
The company's journey to this milestone is a dramatic corporate turnaround. Once near bankruptcy in 2001, SK hynix struggled for a decade under creditor control, with its shares trading as a penny stock.
A pivotal shift came in 2012 when SK Group acquired the company. Instead of challenging Samsung directly in conventional memory chips, SK hynix made a bold early bet on High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) technology.
That strategic gamble paid off as HBM became essential for AI computing. SK hynix now dominates the market, controlling 61% of global HBM supply and even overtaking Samsung as the world's top DRAM maker.
The company's success is reflected in its soaring stock and new cultural cachet, with its corporate jacket becoming a viral symbol of prosperity.
Its U.S. listing aims to raise capital for factory expansion, broaden its investor base, and potentially achieve a higher valuation on global markets.