{"id":5099,"date":"2025-08-17T14:33:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T14:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/5099\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T14:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T14:33:12","slug":"from-bts-glory-to-boardroom-battles-bang-si-hyuk-under-siege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/5099\/","title":{"rendered":"From BTS glory to boardroom battles: Bang Si-hyuk under siege"},"content":{"rendered":"

K-pop mogul faces rare multiagency probe as Seoul intensifies war on stock manipulation<\/p>\n

\"Hybe Hybe founder and Chair Bang Si-hyuk attends the ceremonial inauguration of President Lee Jae Myung at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Friday. (Newsis) <\/p>\n

Hybe founder and Chair Bang Si-hyuk, once celebrated as the trailblazer of the K-pop industry with the unprecedented success of BTS, now finds himself under intense legal scrutiny, putting Hybe\u2019s roughly 12 trillion won ($8.65 billion) market valuation to the test.<\/p>\n

According to the allegations, Bang deliberately misled investors in 2019 by suggesting that the public listing of Hybe \u2014 then Big Hit Entertainment \u2014 would be unlikely, while the company was preparing to go public as planned in the back. He is accused of unfair trading, pocketing roughly half of the 400 billion won generated in proceeds.<\/p>\n

Bang, who had remained mostly silent throughout the process, sent an official statement to Hybe employees earlier this month, shortly before returning to Korea from the US on Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving already provided a detailed explanation regarding the circumstances behind the listing during the previous probe carried out by the financial regulators, I will continue to explain the matter once again in full,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect that this process will help clarify the facts, and I will humbly await the authorities\u2019 decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

As President Lee Jae Myung pushes his \u201cone-strike\u201d policy in a declared war against stock manipulation, Bang has emerged as a prime example of its enforcement, with authorities competing to take the lead in pressuring him.<\/p>\n

On July 16, the Financial Supervisory Commission, the nation\u2019s top financial regulator, referred the case to prosecutors \u2014 the strongest measure the agency can take.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, police have intensified their crackdown, raiding the agency\u2019s headquarters as well as the Korea Exchange. The National Tax Service has also launched a sweeping probe into Hybe, deploying its special bureau that handles large-scale tax evasion cases.<\/p>\n

Industry officials note that it is highly unusual for all major state investigative bodies \u2014 including the police, financial regulators, prosecutors and the NTS \u2014 to simultaneously target a single company, highlighting the extraordinary scope of the investigation.<\/p>\n

Though still at an early stage, the criminal charges against Bang could trigger upheaval in Hybe\u2019s shareholder structure. In recent years, major investors have steadily pared back their holdings in the K-pop powerhouse amid a series of public setbacks, including its feud with former Ador CEO and producer Min Hee-jin.<\/p>\n

Bang is the largest shareholder of the Kospi-listed company, holding a 31.57 percent stake, followed by game developer Netmarble at 9.44 percent, the National Pension Service at 7.8 percent and crypto exchange operator Dunamu at 5.53 percent.<\/p>\n

\"Hybe Hybe headquarters in Yongsan, central Seoul (Newsis) <\/p>\n

Although the NPS remains one of Hybe\u2019s largest shareholders, it had trimmed its stake by more than 1 percentage point in June 2024. A month earlier, Netmarble offloaded Hybe shares amounting to 2.6 percentage points.<\/p>\n

While the game developer explained the sale as a move to secure liquidity and offset operating losses, industry watchers pointed instead to escalated volatility in Hybe\u2019s valuation, challenged by its dispute with Min.<\/p>\n

Dunamu, operator of the country\u2019s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, faces headwinds in its partnership with Hybe as well. While Dunamu and Hybe made reciprocal equity investments in 2021 to collaborate on a non-fungible token business, recent developments have raised concerns about a potential rift in the alliance.<\/p>\n

Levvels, a joint venture between the two entities, shut down its signature service Momentica in July, citing losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe issued NFTs using Hybe\u2019s intellectual property, but the craze has cooled, slowing the business down. Levvels is starting over from scratch,\u201d Lee Sirgoo, CEO of Dunamu, said at the shareholders\u2019 meeting held at the end of March, signaling a new direction for the business, which could potentially leave Hybe out of the picture.<\/p>\n

Both Dunamu and NPS declined to comment on their stakes in Hybe.<\/p>\n

Hybe locked in value trap<\/p>\n

Hybe\u2019s market valuation has been on a roller coaster ride. After climbing to a 52-week high of 323,000 won during intraday trading on July 2, its shares began to tumble as concerns over risks involving Bang rose to the surface. Fears of a potential delisting sent the stock plunging about 24 percent in a month to 246,000 won on July 30.<\/p>\n

The massive sell-off, however, soon eased. After touching the dip, the stock quickly rebounded to above 250,000 won in the following days, making a partial recovery to 283,500 won as of Friday\u2019s closing.<\/p>\n

Still, the stock price remains well below its initial trading performance. On the first day of the market debut, Hybe\u2019s shares soared to as high as 351,000 won. With the current price unable to reach even the debut price of 270,000 won, concerns over potential undervaluation persist.<\/p>\n

Despite the hiccups, local stock analysts are maintaining a \u201cbuy\u201d call, citing the company\u2019s long-term growth potential, including the expected return of BTS, growth of its girl group Katseye and planned expansion into the Latin American market.<\/p>\n

Hybe posted consolidated revenue of 705.6 billion won between April and July, up 10.2 percent from the same period last year, while its operating profit rose 29 percent to 65.9 billion won, surpassing market forecasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Bang faces criminal allegations, they pertain to him personally rather than his role as Hybe\u2019s CEO, which helps limit the impact on the company,\u201d an analyst from a local brokerage firm said.<\/p>\n

silverstar@heraldcorp.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"K-pop mogul faces rare multiagency probe as Seoul intensifies war on stock manipulation Hybe founder and Chair Bang…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[5402,18,117,19,17,5403,5399,5398,5404,337,5400,5401,5397,5406,5407,5405],"class_list":{"0":"post-5099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-asia-news","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-k-pop","14":"tag-koreaherald","15":"tag-korean-news","16":"tag-kpop","17":"tag-music","18":"tag-south-korea-news","19":"tag-south-korea-news-in-english","20":"tag-the-korea-herald","21":"tag-5406","22":"tag-5407","23":"tag-5405"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}