SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – April 23, 2024: People walk past the Hybe Building in Seoul.
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Shares of Kospi-listed Hybe rose as much as 4.97 percent on Wednesday after Min Hee-jin, former CEO of subsidiary ADOR, resigned after trading hours on Tuesday.
This represents an increase of about 376.02 billion won ($282.05 million) in market value for Hybe. The development is the latest in a long-running management dispute that has roiled K-pop’s biggest management company. Hybe is most notably responsible for managing BTS, South Korea’s biggest K-pop group.
ADOR, the management agency of girl group NewJeans, announced that Min has stepped down as CEO, but remains as an “internal director” and continues to produce content for NewJeans. ADOR’s human resources director, Kim Joo-young, will replace Min.
SEOUL, KOREA – August 1: NewJeans attends Hyundai Duty Free Department Store’s ‘EVERYDAY HYUNDAY’ event at Hyundai Duty Free Department Store Dongdaemun in Jung-gu on August 1, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea.
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However, South Korean media reported that Min said in a statement “that decision is illegal” and “unilaterally”, adding that she was not consulted about continuing to produce material for NewJeans.
In April, Hybe filed an application Police report against Minaccused her of wanting to spin off the record label into an independent company.
Min then accused Hybe of copying NewJeans’ idea for another girl group under another Hybe subsidiary.
Hybe convened an extraordinary general meeting in May to remove Min as CEO. She filed for an injunction to stop the move, which was approved by the Seoul Central District Court, which ruled that Hybe could not exercise its voting rights in the EGM.
— CNBC’s Chery Kang contributed to this report.
