--- title: How Much Money is Squid Game’s 45.6 Billion Won Prize? description: Breaking down what Squid Game's prize money is really worth canonical: https://time.com/7203902/squid-game-prize-money/ author: Kayti Burt article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-12-26T13:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:21:03.104Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How Much Money is Squid Game’s 45.6 Billion Won Prize? og:description: Breaking down what Squid Game's prize money is really worth og:url: https://time.com/7203902/squid-game-prize-money/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ea021bb6e57e861/698b24d816d884804bc46339/Squidgame_Unit_206_N012193.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Squidgame_Unit_206_N012193 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Much Money is Squid Game’s 45.6 Billion Won Prize? twitter:description: Breaking down what Squid Game's prize money is really worth twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ea021bb6e57e861/698b24d816d884804bc46339/Squidgame_Unit_206_N012193.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Much Money is Squid Game’s 45.6 Billion Won Prize? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Kayti Burt](https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/) ## Kayti Burt Burt is a contributor for TIME. Dec 26, 2024 1:00 PM UTC  Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game 2 Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game 2Courtesy of Netflix by [Kayti Burt](https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/) ## Kayti Burt Burt is a contributor for TIME. Dec 26, 2024 1:00 PM UTC When we first meet _Squid Game_ protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) in Season 1, he doesn’t have enough money to buy his daughter fried chicken for her birthday. This lack of means, made more extreme by his crippling debt, informs [Gi-hun’s decision to take part in the Squid Game](https://time.com/7203764/squid-game-recap-before-season-2/)—even after he discovers its deadly stakes. When Gi-hun emerges as the gauntlet’s only survivor, he takes home 45.6 billion won. Watching Korean deadly competition drama _Squid Game_ as an American can turn into an exercise in pausing high-stakes action in order to Google the won to USD exchange rate. (At the time of this writing, it’s $1 is to roughly 1,447 won.) The series communicates that 45.6 billion won is a life-changing amount of money for the Korean contestants. But what exactly does that mean in tangible terms? Ahead of Squid Game Season 2, out on Dec. 26, let’s break down what the prize is really worth, in a 2024 context. ## **How much is 45.6 billion won in USD?** In December 2024, at the time of writing this article, the 45.6 billion won prize pot equated to roughly $31.5 million. Notably, the Korean won is [at a 15-year low](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/biz/2024/12/602%5F388769.html) in relation to the U.S. dollar. The prize pot is the same for the game in Season 2 as it was for the game in Season 1, even though it has been three years in both our world and the world of the show, and [the Korean cost of living has increased](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/biz/2024/12/602%5F386537.html). In 2021, the 45.6 billion won prize money would have been closer to $38.5 million when converted to USD. Apparently, the people who run the game care neither about the vagaries of global currencies, nor [inflation](https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/south-korea-oct-headline-inflation-weakest-since-early-2021-2024-11-04/). ## **What will 45.6 billion won get you in Korea?** How much would 45.6 billion won mean to a “normal” person in Korea? Well, the [average monthly salary](https://www.timedoctor.com/blog/average-salary-in-south-korea/) in Korea is 3.9 million won, or around $2,696\. This amounts to 46.8 million won per year (around $32,347) before income tax. With his winnings, Gi-hun could pay the annual average salaries for roughly 974 Korean workers. Half of the country’s population [lives in the Seoul metropolitan area](https://english.news.cn/20240215/948396232b504b7599046f3f132438fd/c.html), which was ranked as [the ninth most expensive city for expats](https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230608000527) in a 2024 survey. When it comes to the Seoul rental market, it costs around $475 per month for [a studio apartment](https://wise.com/gb/cost-of-living/south-korea/seoul) outside of the city center or around $2,500 per month for [a three-bedroom apartment](https://wise.com/gb/cost-of-living/south-korea/seoul) in the city center. From a U.S. perspective, that monthly rent might seem very cheap, but it’s important to factor in the unique rental payment structure, [known as _jeonse_](https://asiasociety.org/korea/renting-house-south-korea-jeonse), commonly used in Korea. The system involves the tenant putting down a large sum of “key money” when leasing an apartment that will be returned at the end of the usually two-year lease period. The “key money” is usually anywhere between 50% to 70% of the property’s value, making it difficult or impossible for many Koreans to break into the rental market. In [November 2023](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1120749/south-korea-mean-jeonse-price-housing-seoul-by-type/#:~:text=As%20of%20November%202023%2C%20the,which%20is%20usually%20two%20years.), the mean _jeonse_ cost was 423 million won, or roughly $292,000\. After winning the game, Gi-hun would have no trouble renting; he could afford to pay the mean _jeonse_ cost for roughly 108 apartments. Of course, with the game’s 45.6 billion won prize, Gi-hun could afford to buy something in [Seoul’s property market](https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3283167/why-seoul-stands-out-among-asias-top-property-markets)—which is almost completely inaccessible to the average Korean. [A state-issued study released in 2023](https://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20231222000484) determined that a Seoul resident would have to _not_ spend a single dime of their income for 15.2 years to buy a home in the city. [The average apartment](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1023632/south-korea-most-expensive-areas-to-live-seoul/) in Seoul’s richest neighborhood, Gangnam (made famous in [Psy’s 2012 satirical banger “Gangnam Style”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&ab%5Fchannel=officialpsy)), sells for 2.25 billion won, roughly $1.56 million. As for fried chicken? Gi-hun could now afford to buy his daughter more than 1.8 million of the 25,000-won _tongdak_ signatures at [this August Chicken branch](https://naver.me/F3696Oq8) near Seoul’s Yaksu station. Unfortunately, she moved to Los Angeles with her mother and stepfather in Season 1. ## **How much is** **500 million won?** In Episode 1 of Season 2, “The Search,” Gi-hun casually offers his network of gangsters a 500 million won bonus for finding Gong Yoo’s The Recruiter somewhere in the Seoul subway system. The men are highly motivated by that amount of money, which equates to about $346,000\. ## **How much is** **45.6 billion won compared to the wealth of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk?** Here are a few final metrics, which feel relevant in the context of _Squid Game_’s depiction of the absurdity of wealth accumulation under capitalism: Jeff Bezos [makes $1.9 million per hour](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-wealth-of-jeff-bezos%3A-earning-%241.9-million-every-hour-what-does-he-spend-it-on), which equates to about 2.75 billion won, or roughly $45.8 million in a 24-hour period—so, he makes more in one of his days than Gi-hun made winning the whole game. In 2024, Elon Musk passed Bezos to become [the wealthiest person on the planet](https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#1ce95b123d78); his net worth recently[ reached over $400 billion](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-11/elon-musk-net-worth-tops-400-billion-a-historic-first), [spurred by Donald Trump’s re-election](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-net-worth-400-billion-bloomberg/). Gi-hun would have to win the game over 12,700 times to accumulate that much money. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7203902/squid-game-prize-money/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7203902/squid-game-prize-money/"},"headline":"How Much Money is Squid Game’s 45.6 Billion Won Prize?","datePublished":"2024-12-26T13:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:21:03.104Z","description":"Breaking down what Squid Game's prize money is really worth","url":"https://time.com/7203902/squid-game-prize-money/","keywords":["Television","freelance","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ea021bb6e57e861/698b24d816d884804bc46339/Squidgame_Unit_206_N012193.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kayti Burt","jobTitle":"Burt is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ea021bb6e57e861/698b24d816d884804bc46339/Squidgame_Unit_206_N012193.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Squidgame_Unit_206_N012193","caption":"Squid Game S2 Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game S2 Cr. 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