HYBE’s Stock Fell After Appointing a New CEO
The company's stock price dropped to its lowest level in 18 months following the decision to appoint Chief Strategy Officer Lee Jae Sang as CEO.
The appointment of Lee Jae Sang has not been supported by fans due to negative rumors from the past. It seems the stock market is also not reacting positively to this sudden change of power within the company. HYBE has yet to hold shareholder and board meetings to approve the terms of Lee Jae Sang’s appointment.
Lee Jae Sang graduated from Yonsei University and worked at the global management consulting firm Monitor Group, Hyundai Motor, and Google before joining Big Hit Entertainment, the predecessor of HYBE, in 2018.
Immediately after Lee Jae Sang’s appointment was made public, the online community was abuzz with numerous allegations against him, including “intimidating” the former Vice President of ADOR and forcing them to disclose private conversations with CEO Min Hee Jin. Another criticism directed at Lee relates to his role in the acquisition of Ithaca Holdings while serving as CEO of HYBE America and co-founding an NFT company to create NFTs using HYBE artists.
After acquiring Ithaca Holdings in 2021, HYBE America reported losses for two consecutive years, amounting to 70.1 billion won (approximately 50.8 million USD) and 142 billion won (approximately 103 million USD), respectively. Additionally, HYBE America’s investment in the NFT company Levvels resulted in an operating loss of 18 billion won (approximately 13 million USD) in 2023, followed by a loss of 3.5 billion KRW (approximately 2.53 million USD) in the first quarter of 2024.
