 |
| ▲ This file photo shows the company building of Hybe. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- Hybe Co., the agency behind K-pop sensation BTS, turned in its list of seven candidates for SM’s board of executives on Thursday.
According to the South Korean music industry, the agency, which now stands as the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment, proposed three candidates for SM’s in-house directors the previous day. The list included President Lee Jae-sang of Hybe America, Hybe’s Chief Legal Officer Jeong Jin-soo, and Lee Jin-hwa, the chief of Hybe’s management planning office.
President Lee is known for his credits in establishing mid- to long-term business strategies by buying Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, a global entertainment powerhouse that is stationed in the U.S. and home to popular American musicians Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, as a chief strategy officer until 2021.
Meanwhile, Officer Jeong has been serving as the law expert who is eligible for his legal work both in Korea and the state of New York. Chief Lee also built multi-faceted experience in multiple tasks in several IP (Intellectual Property) and content sectors, ranging from managing KPI (Key Performance Indicators), financial performance, and transaction structure efficiency.
Other candidates not from the agency that the K-pop powerhouse recommended as outside directors include the senior staff attorney of GAON Law Group Kang Nam-kyu, Professor Hong Soon-nam of Yonsei University for public administration, and the South Korean representative of the U.N. Environment Program Finance Initiative Lim Dae-woong.
Park Byung-moo, CEO of VIG Partners, was proposed as a potential candidate for a non-executive director, followed by Choi Kyu-dam, who was suggested as a non-executive auditor.
In a regulatory filing on Feb. 10, Hybe, which manages several chart supremos including BTS, TXT, and Le Sseraphim, announced that it has acquired a 14.8% stake in rival company SM from Lee Soo-man, the founder and chief producer of the prestigious K-pop powerhouse. The stock purchase agreement was made in the form of Lee submitting a proposal containing personnel designated by Hybe under the contract between the agency and Lee himself at the time.
In the statement, Lee, also dubbed the godfather of K-pop, said, “I am responsible to make SM a company that realizes the most exemplary governance structure and to put the rights of shareholders as first priority,” adding, “Therefore, I believe this agreement would enhance the corporate value as well as the value of the shareholders.”
“For the sake of the mid-to-long-term sustainable development of SM, there are several changes that must be made in the articles of association and others,” he wrote. “In addition, the board executives must consist of those with abundant experience and expertise who can promote transparency in management.”
Lee’s side emphasized that all in-house, outside, and non-executive directors, as well as non-executive auditors, were all nominated by Hybe.
Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that the list of candidates proposed by Hybe did not include any musicians or creators; in particular, all three candidates for in-house directors hold high positions within Hybe. The fact that candidates Jeong Jin-soo and Choi Kyu-dam formerly worked at NCsoft, and Lee Jin-hwa was stationed at several game companies including Nexon also stands out. Hybe’s executives consist of several figures from the game industry, including CEO Park Ji-won, who used to serve as CEO of Nexon.
Regarding the three candidates for in-house directors, Hybe said, “These candidates have built multi-faceted experience in global entertainment, and IT, as well as content sectors’ strategies, operations, laws, and finance,” adding, “We did not recommend any for the executive position in the creative sector as we will respect SM’s original identity and unique color. We are willing to continuously develop that color and help SM nurture future global creative talents.”
With Hybe making suggestions for SM’s new executive board members, its confrontation with SM’s current executive board at the shareholders’ meeting next month appears to be inevitable. SM’s current board members have already made an announcement that they will reorganize the board into three in-house directors and one non-executive director. They have formerly made it clear that they will nominate Lee Chang-hwan, CEO of Align Partners Capital Management, for the non-executive director position.
Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-jun, the current co-CEOs of SM whose terms end next month, have not yet announced their plans for the second term; however, the music industry predicts that they are aiming for a second term with the help of a strategic partnership formed with tech giant Kakao.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
