It is reported that after the sale of Justin Bieber’s catalog for about $ 200 million, Scooter Braun became the sole CEO of Hybe America.
Announcing yesterday its major investment in the 28-year-old’s music intellectual property,
Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM) declared Scooter Braun “CEO of Hybe America and manager of Justin Bieber for 15 years.” Moreover, the text did not mention that Brown shared the title with the now former co-CEO Lenzo Yun, who signed a contract with Big Hit/Hybe back in 2010.
And, according to various media reports, including Variety, this is due to the fact that Yoon completely turned down the role. At the time of this writing, Hybe’s longtime CEO does not appear to have publicly discussed the issue, and his employer has not raised the subject with an official statement.
In addition, Yun has not yet updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect the developments, and the mentioned report does not contain additional information about the shake-up. Consequently, it is unclear what exactly prompted Brown to change the title and whether Yoon will take on another role in Hybe’s far-reaching operations.
For reference, however, in April 2021, Braun (as well as The Carlyle Group, at that time a minority shareholder) sold Ithaca Holdings to BTS Hybe agency (KRX: 352820) in a deal for about $1 billion. In addition to joining Hybe’s board of directors as the company prepared to form and promote K-pop groups in the US, Taylor Swift’s nemesis Brown became co-CEO after the sale of Ithaca.
In any case, the news comes as Hybe continues its ambitious expansion in the US. While BTS is on hiatus, the members of the seven-member group are releasing solo projects, performing at high-profile festivals and appearing in a number of visual media projects.
In addition, the K-pop agency’s Tomorrow X Together band announced their second world tour earlier in January. Kicking off the concert series with shows in Seoul, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan (four stops in the latter country, each with two dates), TXT are set to perform in North Carolina, New York, Texas and Georgia to name a few.
As for the global development of the broader K-pop sphere, in conclusion, it should be noted that Kakao Entertainment — the company behind Monsta X, The Boyz and many others — initiated 2023 by announcing that it had raised about $1 billion from “leading sovereign funds.” ”
“Kakao Entertainment strives to lead the growth of K-culture worldwide and promote Kakao Group’s comprehensive vision of entering markets outside Korea,” the executives stressed, announcing a significant increase.
When trading ended today, shares of the broader Kakao Corporation (KRX:035720), in which Tencent has a stake, were worth 62,600 pounds (currently $50.78) apiece, compared with 186,600 pounds ($151.35) apiece for Hybe shares.
