HYBE

2005–2021: Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd

Big Hit Entertainment was founded on February 1, 2005, and signed the vocal trio 8Eight in 2007. In 2010, the company signed a joint management contract with JYP Entertainment over the boy group 2AM. That year, Bang Si-hyuk signed RM as the first member of BTS and launched nationwide auditions to recruit other members for the group. BTS made their debut under Big Hit on June 13, 2013.In 2012, the company signed Lim Jeong-hee, and formed the girl group GLAM as a collaboration with Source Music. The group was active until 2014, when it was disbanded due to a controversy involving one of its members Kim Da-hee—Kim was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of blackmailing actor Lee Byung-hun.Following the end of the joint contract between Big Hit and JYP in April 2014, three members of 2AM returned to JYP. Lee Chang-min remained with Big Hit to continue with his solo career and as part of the duo Homme. 8Eight disbanded later that year, after Baek Chan and Joo Hee's contracts with Big Hit ended.In May 2015, Lim Jeong-hee parted ways with the agency, following the expiration of her three-year contract, and Signal Entertainment Group, a KOSDAQ-listed company specializing in artist management and television production, acquired Big Hit through a KR?6 billion convertible bond. In early 2016, Big Hit ended their stake relationship with Signal and made a full settlement of the bonds.In February 2018, Homme disbanded after member Changmin's contract came to an end. He left the company to start his own agency, while Lee Hyun continued on as a solo artist. In August, Big Hit and CJ E&M released information stating plans to create a joint entertainment agency, with ownership split 52% to the latter and 48% to the former. Filed under the name Belift, the agency debuted its first boy group Enhypen in November 2020. In October, BTS renewed and extended their contract with the agency for seven more years. Big Hit was voted Best Investment Company of the Year at the 2018 Korea VC Awards in December.Big Hit debuted its second male group, Tomorrow X Together , in March 2019. Also that month, former CBO Lenzo Yoon was appointed as co-CEO alongside Bang. Yoon would focus on the business components of the company while Bang's focus would be on creative production. In July 2019, the agency acquired Source Music, and in August, the video game firm Superb. Thanks to the Weverse and Weverse Shop apps developed by its subsidiary beNX, Big Hit was chosen as the fourth most innovative company of 2020 worldwide by Fast Company.In May 2020, Big Hit became the majority shareholder of Pledis Entertainment. While the label retained its independence, its roster of artists would now be promoted more widely outside of South Korea with Big Hit's support. The Fair Trade Commission approved the acquisition in October. Big Hit acquired KOZ Entertainment, a record label founded by rapper Zico, the following month.In January 2021, news media reported that Big Hit and beNX had invested a combined ?70 billion in YG Plus, acquiring a 17.9% stake in the company in a merchandising and distribution deal that would see the aforementioned's artists join Weverse's social media and shop platforms. Naver Corporation later invested ?354.8 billion in beNX, acquiring 49% of the subsidiary. In return, it transferred its V Live video streaming service to the latter for the development of a new integrated fan community platform. beNX was eventually renamed Weverse Company Inc. subsequent to the Naver deal. The merger was approved by the KFTC in May. On February 17, Big Hit and Universal Music Group announced a strategic partnership between the two companies that will see them collaborate on various music and technology-related endeavours. At the forefront of this is a joint venture between Big Hit and Geffen Records—a UMG flagship label—to debut a global boy group through a new, Los Angeles-based label, with a global audition program set to air in 2022. Big Hit will be responsible for selecting and training the artists, while UMG will be in charge of music production, global distribution, and marketing. Additionally, more UMG artists will join Weverse, which is already home to Gracie Abrams, New Hope Club, and Alexander 23—Yungblud is next in line to join the platform. On February 25, Big Hit announced a ?4 billion investment in a Korea-based AI company, Supertone, that specializes in creating hyper-realistic voices using technology.

2021–present: Hybe Corporation

Big Hit announced its rebranding into an entertainment lifestyle platform company under the name Hybe Corporation in March 2021. The company underwent a complete organizational restructuring, which also saw the name "Big Hit Entertainment" become Big Hit Music under Hybe's new Labels division—the rename was approved at a shareholders meeting on the 30th. The company relocated to its newly completed headquarters in the Yongsan Trade Center in Yongsan District on the 22nd. The rebrand went into effect on the 31st. Hybe acquired Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings and all its properties, including SB Projects and Big Machine Label Group, through its subsidiary Hybe America in April. The corporation invested $950 million into the America branch to finance the buyout—$1.05 billion was paid to Ithaca shareholders and bondholders. BH Odyssey Merger Sub, a newly created subsidiary of Hybe America, facilitated the acquisition, and was later dissolved after the deal's finalization. Minority shareholder and original investor The Carlyle Group sold its stake in Ithaca as part of the deal. Braun joined Hybe's board while Scott Borchetta retained his position as CEO of Big Machine. That same month, Time named Hybe one of the "100 Most Influential Companies of 2021", under the "Pioneers" section.Japanese streaming platform Showroom announced a business and capital partnership with Hybe in May, to improve its domestic services and expand access to Japanese content in South Korea, the United States, and globally. Hybe was added to the MSCI Korea index on the 12th—the index updated on the 28th. Following a second organizational restructuring, Bang resigned as CEO on July 1 to return his focus to music production. He was replaced by Park Ji-won, but retained his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors. In November, Hybe entered into an equity-based partnership with Korean fintech company Dunamu to develop a joint venture NFT business for the creation of digital assets. It acquired a 2.6% stake in the company for ?500 billion while Dunamu received a 5.6% stake in Hybe for ?700 billion . On November 11, Hybe won a Red Dot Design Award in the Brands & Communication Design category at the 2021 Red Dot Design Awards, for its new corporate identity design. The establishment of a new music label, ADOR, was announced on November 12. Chief brand officer Min Hee-jin was appointed as its CEO and tasked with overseeing the management of the label's first girl group, later named NewJeans, which debuted in July 2022.In January 2022, Hybe published a series of "original stories" featuring three of its boy groups—BTS, Enhypen, and Tomorrow X Together—in collaboration with Webtoon and Wattpad as part of a planned IP expansion. The BTS comic alone earned over 15 million views within two days of release and was the highest-viewed title ever launched by Webtoon. In March, Fast Company named Hybe the 11th most innovative company of the year globally on its annual top-50 list—the company also ranked first in the Media category—while Time included Hybe on its 100 Most Influential Companies list for a second consecutive year. The company topped the "Leaders" category and was dubbed "The Pop Powerhouse" by the outlet for its acquisitions, expansion into the digital frontier, and transformative strides in the music industry during the pandemic era. The following month, Hybe won an iF Product Design Award for "Company Branding" in the Communication category at the International Forum Design Awards held in Germany in April.Hybe signed a multi-year deal with The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific in July 2022 to provide content showcasing the Korean music and entertainment industries to a global market. Five programs, including a 4K cinematic film of the BTS Permission To Dance on Stage—LA concert, In the Soop: Friendcation, and BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star—a chronological docuseries of BTS' history from debut to present set to premiere exclusively in 2023—will be available on Disney's streaming platforms worldwide, mainly on Disney+. Additional content featuring other Hybe artists will also be released.