In March, Bang Si-hyuk thought about purchasing SM Entertainment, one of his largest competitors, but decided he could benefit from some seclusion.
The 50-year-old founding chairman of HYBE shut himself in his Seoul home, refused calls from friends outside of his immediate group, and carefully compiled a list of all the benefits and drawbacks of his potential course of action. The most well-known boy band in the world, DREAM BTS, will perform among dozens of other well-known musicians from Korea, including NCT DREAM, SuperM, and aespa.
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In his office in Seoul on a recent Friday, Bang reflects, “After a few days of solitude and evaluation, I reached out to my mentors, who I usually turn to for advice, and honestly, they were against the idea. It was a dingy space with a guitar, a whiteboard, and a window hidden in the maze of the recording studio. He claimed that after learning about the worries, he revised the pros and drawbacks list while still driving. We’ve experienced some internal reaction, so it presents more of a difficulty for me personally, he continued. “I’m less inclined to tie business issues to emotions, but that’s more of a challenge for me.”
The chance came about in February when Bang closed a $300 million acquisition of Quality Control, an Atlanta-based hip-hop label and management company, in Los Angeles. Lee Soo-man, the former creator of SM and well-known record producer, is huddled together while working in two time zones, scarcely sleeping, meeting his new American partner during the day and talking with South Korean colleagues at night. Delighted, HYBE made a proposal to sell the majority of its 15% stock in SM, which Bang and his board enthusiastically accepted and agreed to purchase an additional 25% of the company, making HYBE SM’s largest stakeholder. But after the South Korean internet company Kakao made a higher offer of its own, HYBE eventually withdrew its purchase offer. Today, Kakao governs SM.
A few weeks later, Bang projected an unusual serenity, especially for someone who had just experienced an event that made SM appear to be even more menacing. He was wearing a black T-shirt and his trademark glasses casually, and he was drinking cold corn silk tea. opponent with a similar bold expansion strategy for the US and beyond. “Right now, I’m very happy with the result,” he remarked.
This is partially due to the fact that HYBE is now expected to benefit by around $87 million from the sale of the SM shares it purchased in February. The Silicon Valley bank SM fell a day after HYBE withdrew its proposal, and Bang also noted that his mentor (who, in keeping with Asian custom, has not been named) had cautioned him against making such expensive wagers in times of economic turbulence. Yes, he had no doubt that they were correct.