HYBE Empire: How a Sock Argument Sparked a K-pop Revolution

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Recently, the meme “The whole world is HYBE” has emerged, reflecting the flood of news reports about HYBE.

With the growing attention on HYBE, its CEO, Bang Si Hyuk, is naturally in the spotlight.

Bang, a leading figure in the K-pop industry, once worked closely with JYP’s Park Jin Young. After parting ways with Park, Bang established Big Hit, the precursor to HYBE, in 2005. Big Hit encapsulates everything about Mr. Bang, and its name HIT is reportedly derived from his pen name, Hitman Bang, showing his immense affection for the company.

Initially a tiny agency, Big Hit struggled to find its place against the established extensive three-agency system.

However, BTS’s massive success transformed it, and its explosive growth helped establish a new ‘big four’ agency system.

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Fueled by BTS’s robust success, Big Hit evolved into HYBE in 2021, adopting a label system. Within HYBE, the Big Hit label continues to exist. Bang’s HYBE has acquired various labels, including ADOR, led by CEO Min Hee Jin, SOURCE Music, and PLEDIS, reclaiming its top spot in the industry.

Despite recent legal troubles dubbed the Min Hee Jin controversy, which have led to a significant stock price drop and the loss of approximately $810 million in market cap, the company still showcases a corporate size comparable to that of major conglomerates.

Big Hit, which went public in October 2020, started with an initial public offering price of $121 but soon soared to $314, demonstrating its popularity. However, as of April 30, HYBE’s stock price closed at $181.

Some analysts predict that NewJeans’ upcoming May comeback will positively affect HYBE’s future and stock price.

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The noisy dispute between Bang and Min Hee Jin raises the question: Why did Bang part ways with the successful Park Jin Young? It’s said that their relationship deteriorated due to a series of minor misunderstandings.

Appearing on a television program, Park Jin Young attributed their breakup to a misunderstanding over socks.

Park Jin Young recalled an incident from 2011. At the time, he was in the U.S. for a fan meeting, where he made a mistake that wasn’t a mistake, which amused his fans. Park spent his nights composing music and his mornings driving an hour and a half to Los Angeles to sell his songs, leading to extreme fatigue. To help alleviate Park’s stress, Bang took on the role of laundry duty.

Perhaps Bang was too engrossed in his task. He admonished Park for tossing his socks inside-out into the laundry basket, leading to a heated argument that lasted nearly an hour.

Three months after the sock incident, Bang left Park in the U.S. and returned to Korea alone, deepening their rift.

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However, with time, Park Jin Young has been able to joke about the incident, saying, “Wasn’t it disloyal to go back to Korea alone?”

After that, minor misunderstandings piled up between Bang and Park, leading to their eventual split and each going their separate ways. Despite the painful separation, Bang found a silver lining in BTS, leading to a happy ending.

However, his conflict with Min Hee Jin, ADOR’s CEO, escalates.

On the 29th, HYBE reported that Min Hee Jin had not responded to their request for a board meeting over allegations of her attempting to usurp control of the company. HYBE, which had already filed a request to hold a shareholders’ meeting on the 25th, announced plans to convene the meeting again with court permission.

After parting with Park Jin Young and experiencing growth, all eyes are on Bang to see whether he will hit another jackpot following this incident or sink into a quagmire.