Koreaboo reported that HYBE tweeted an official announcement from Jiwon Park, CEO of HYBE, stating that with the acquisition of SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man’s 14.8% share of SM Entertainment stock, that HYBE is now the majority stakeholder.
OPEN LETTER TO FANS, ARTISTS, EMPLOYEES, AND SHAREHOLDERS OF SM ENTERTAINMENT pic.twitter.com/CsxqAmopFy
— HYBE OFFICIAL (@HYBEOFFICIALtwt) February 22, 2023
In the letter, tweeted in both Korean and English, HYBE promises to ensure “SM will be moving to become a company with a transparent governance structure”. Park goes on to say that with regards to concerns for many of the artists in SM Entertainment that “HYBE fully respects the direction laid out in SM 3.0 growth strategy, as well as the value and vision SM’s employees and artists have created.” Park goes on to say that SM fans, artists, stakeholders, and employees, together with HYBE, can ‘Win Together’ and “continue to lead K-pop’s global phenomenon”.
Earlier in the week, SM Entertainment CFO had released a video publicly countering this move, citing concern with the direction of the company, the value for stakeholders, and the diminished spotlight for SM Entertainment artists, should HYBE takeover.
Pictured: Girls’ Generation, one of SM Entertainment’s most successful artists – Photo by Pabian – 150906 DMC 페스티벌 MBC 라디오 DJ 콘서트 소녀시대, CC BY 4.0
SM Entertainment has been major force in Korea’s entertainment industry, after its formation in 1989 by Lee Soo-man. Over the years its been the home for many major artists such as H.O.T., BoA, TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, and Super Junior on its roster. In February, SM had announced “SM 3.0: Producing Strategy Multi ‘Production Center/Label’ System” on SMTOWN’s Official YouTube channel, where they discussed transitioning from a one-man production system to a production house system.
HYBE Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational entertainment company that was created by Bang Si-hyuk as Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. in 2005. Big Hit Entertainment renamed itself HYBE Corporation in 2021. HYBE is perhaps best known as the company that manages BTS under their subsidiary Big Hit Music. In addition to BTS, Big Hit Music is home to artists such as Tomorrow X Tomorrow, Lee Hyun, and producers Suga and Pdogg. In the mid-2010’s, Big Hit Music co-managed artists including GLAM with Source Music and 2AM with JYP Entertainment.
