HYBE Labels’ Founder Bang Si Hyuk To Step Down From CEO Position

It was announced that HYBE Labels CEO, Bang Si Hyuk, will be stepping down from his current position as the CEO of the label. It is part of his plan to accelerate global management by aggressive leadership. Park Ji Won, who was the former CEO of game publisher, Nexon Korea, will be stepping up to fill in his shoes.

Just late June, HYBE Labels announced that it would be undergoing a major reshuffle within its personnel. Thanks to the joint venture with Universal Music Group (UMG) and the joining of Ithaca Holdings, HYBE Labels’ main focus currently is to kick-start globalization through the deployment of top management leaders. Park Ji Won has been brought in to handle HYBE Label’s management strategy and overall operations. He joined the company in 2020 and has helped with the company’s rapid growth. While Bang Si Hyuk will still have a role in management, namely, he will still be on the board of directors and he will participate in the decision-making of core projects, he will instead focus on music production as his area of expertise.

Park Ji Won | TechM

HYBE America will be headquartered in the United States, handled by CEO Yoon Seok Joon and Scooter Braun. The company will take the lead in producing, training and marketing in order to transplant K-Pop business models into the U.S market. They will be hosting a global audition project jointly with UMG.

Scooter Braun | PopSugar

Additionally, HYBE Japan has also been established as an independent label. Although it is still considered a subsidiary of HYBE Labels, it will be given its own independence. Headed by CEO Han Hyuk Rok, he will create a foundation for HYBE Label artists to engage and enter the Japanese market. A rookie boy group will soon be launched through the Japanese subsidiary.

HYBE Labels made a statement regarding the huge changes in leadership, claiming that it happened “due to a strong will to take the lead in changing the overall system of leadership so as to realize mid to long term business plans and to become a globalized company.“