BTS and HYBE together becomes a powerful force that has completely changed the way people around the world perceive K-pop. In just 10 years, BTS has gone from a little-known rookie group to the world's top Kpop superstars. Meanwhile, HYBE has grown into a leading Kpop empire from the Big Hit Entertainment platform.
Along with that development, the αѕѕets of BTS members and Bang PD have also increased significantly. Recently, кσяєαn media reports about the huge profits from HYBE stocks that BTS and Bang PD received surprised fans.
In addition to the admiration of netizens, some controversies have also emerged:
For many fans who did not pay attention, HYBE's IPO was successful in October 2020. Before HYBE's shares were officially listed on the stock exchange, CEO Bang Shi Hyuk gave a total of 478,695 shares to 7 BTS members in August. At that time, this move was considered to demonstrate the strong relationship between the two sides.
According to previously announced information, BTS will own 478,695 shares of HYBE given by Bang PD. Each BTS member owned 68,385 shares which were priced up to 135,000 won ($113 USD) when the agency’s initial public offering (IPO) happened that year. This amounts to $7.7 million for each member, minimum. BTS members are bound by the special relationship with Chairman Bang and cannot sell their shares for at least 6 months.
In October 2021, a year after the listing, some members sold some of their shares including: Jin, j-hope, RM. They withdrew $4.1 million, $1.57 million, and $2.75 million respectively. After that, no BTS member sold their shares until September 2023. It is not possible to confirm whether it was sold more after this time. The reason is that the special relationship with Chairman Bang has been resolved, so there is no longer an obligation to disclose the shares.
If they have not been sold by now, based on today's stock price (189,000 KRW), the value of the shares of the 7 BTS members is estimated to be 94 billion KRW (65.6 million USD). Including some of the shares sold in 2021, BTS members received a total profit of about 100 billion won (69.8 million USD) from HYBE's IPO. If you look at each person, it would be about 15 billion won (10.4 million USD).
This is a large number considering the status of idols, showing the wealth of BTS members. However, a more surprising number was revealed when it was revealed that President Bang personally pocketed about 400 billion KRW (about 300 million USD) in cash through a profit-sharing agreement in HYBE's IPO. In addition, President Bang's close αѕѕociates are also said to have pocketed up to 200 billion KRW. There are also people who received 100 billion won alone.
This information immediately caused controversy when put in correlation with the fact that BTS is the biggest contributor to the HYBE empire. As of 2019, a year before HYBE's IPO, BTS's market share of HYBE's revenue reached 97.4%. It was at this time that BTS was emerging as a global superstar, sweeping the US Billboard year-end charts. Billboard estimated that BTS earned around $190 million (233.6 billion won) in revenue through 42 concerts that year.
Some industry experts commented that BTS is taken advantage of by HYBE. What they received was not commensurate with what they contributed. However, over the years, the relationship between HYBE, Bang PD and BTS was seen as good and there were no significant conflicts. Therefore, the controversy gradually subsided, giving way to amazement at the huge amount of money that Bang PD and BTS earned over the years.
