On February 19th, 2023, SM released a video featuring CFO Jang Cheol-hyuk directly addressing an attempted takeover of the company by HYBE, which is the largest shareholder of SM stock. In the video, Jang Cheol-hyuk, CFO of SM Entertainment, lay’s out SM’s position on the matter for 15 minutes straight. Among the issues stated, Cheol-hyuk cites mistrust that SM will be allowed independence promised by HYBE, a belief that SM artists and album releases would be impacted, and a belief that SM’s shareholders would in fact lose on the value of their investment.
SM Entertainment’s counter video to HYBE’s “hostile takeover” of the company is a rare public statement for any large company, where deals and negotiations usually take place in board rooms and not on social media platforms.
https://youtu.be/mynwGHOG62A
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.
