Despite the ongoing fiasco between HYBE Labels and ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, the former has been officially named a major corporate group in South Korea, the first for an entertainment company.

On May 15, the Fair Trade Commission made the announcement of HYBE’s new title as a “publicly-disclosed corporate group” in 2024, as their assets total over 5 trillion KRW (~$3.70 billion USD). This also means that Bang Si Hyuk, founder and chairman of HYBE and who holds 31.57% of the label’s shares, is the largest shareholder of the first entertainment company to be given such a title.

According to HYBE’s recent business report, the company’s assets at the end of 2023 totaled 5.3457 trillion KRW (~$3.95 billion USD), which is an increase of 9.8% from the previous year and makes them the 85th largest asset overall. This success shows just how successful HYBE Labels, as well as the K-Pop entertainment industry as a whole, has become in recent years.

This is a reflection of the rapid growth of K-Pop music such as BTS in the global market, and the rapid growth of the entertainment industry, whose main source of revenue is albums and performances.

— Fair Trade Commission

Additionally, this is the first time since the introduction of the major corporate group and chaebol leader designation system in 1986 that two people related to each other — Bang Si Hyuk and his relative Bang Joon Hyuk (chairman of Netmarble, South Korea’s largest mobile gaming company) — have both appeared on the chaebol list together.

Since this announcement was made during the feud still causing chaos at HYBE, it has drawn quite a bit of attention. Most fans are thanking BTS for their work in helping the label achieve such a hard-to-reach title, though others wonder about the problems arising from individual companies having so much money and power.

SAY THANK YOU BTS. It’s their hard work that gave the foundation to this & even today Tannies are the major contributors to their revenue. SK you are lucky to have BTS in your country. Count your blessings & I’m sure it’ll be 7 💜 so proud of my boys🫂💜 https://t.co/3tiDI4KHuX pic.twitter.com/VY5BMdOtQQ

— Chandu ʳᵖʷᵖ 💜⁷ 🔍⍤⃝🔎 (@Chandu94_7) May 15, 2024

Built off of the blood, sweat, and tears of BTS. We're proud of you BTS. https://t.co/oiReIFiVE2

— LaurenQᴼᵀ⁷💜 ⟭⟬ ⟬⟭ (@BTSn8tion) May 15, 2024

Nobody know what the future will bring… https://t.co/sjW8EgwXyb pic.twitter.com/WKJzWWNbcZ

— Nurul.K⁷⁼¹ (@N_K016) May 15, 2024

Shall we put it into context?
In the span of 11 years, @BTS_twt made a Company go from almost bankruptcy to a conglomerate, a result that the other entertainment companies in SK never reached in decades.
Thank you, BTS. https://t.co/muHMXktgCF

— Sol ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵇᵗˢ ⁷⁼¹ 💜 is waiting for 2025. (@JamAnna77) May 15, 2024

How do you feel about this development?