On the February 10 broadcast of SBS’s Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny, Cha Tae Hyun appeared as a guest and spoke candidly about life as a company CEO. Introducing him, MC Kim Sook said, “This is CEO Cha Tae Hyun. He started a management agency as co-CEO with his close friend of 20 years, Jo In Sung.”
Cha Tae Hyun explained that the company was launched on a small scale. “We started with the idea of keeping it simple, each of us working with just one manager,” he said, adding that the agency currently represents Jo In Sung, Cha Tae Hyun, Im Joo Hwan, and Jin Ki Joo.
Despite its modest beginnings, interest from other celebrities has been strong. Cha Tae Hyun noted, “We get a lot of inquiries, but realistically we don’t have enough people, so we’ve had to turn many down.” When the MCs jokingly suggested that fellow “Dragon Zodiac Club” friends like Hong Kyung Min or Jang Hyuk should join, Cha Tae Hyun drew a clear line, saying bluntly, “To be honest, if there’s no profit, it can’t be helped.”
He then went on to share an anecdote about distributing bonuses after the company’s first year. “We didn’t receive any outside investment, so payday pressure is always there,” he admitted. “But thankfully, after one year, we didn’t run a deficit, so we were able to give out performance bonuses.”
However, the bonuses turned out to be larger than expected. Cha Tae Hyun laughed as he recalled, “I should have calculated more carefully, but I did it roughly and ended up giving too much. I heard the managers even had a meeting saying, ‘Isn’t this more than we deserve?’”
His story drew laughter in the studio and highlighted Cha Tae Hyun’s down-to-earth leadership style. One year in, the agency co-run by Cha Tae Hyun and Jo In Sung appears to be off to a stable—and surprisingly generous—start.
Sources: Nate Entertainment,Money Today,SBS
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