WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 You know, usually when we sit down to talk about 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:04.839 billionaires in the music industry, we tend to 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:06.480 talk about the people in front of the camera. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.400 Right. The performer. Yeah, the rock stars. Yeah. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:13.320 The people with the microphones. But if you have 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:17.059 listened to pop music, I mean, really, any pop 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:19.480 music in the last 10 years, you have heard the 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:22.320 work of a man who prefers to stay in the studio. 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:25.640 Well, at least he used to. And yet his influence 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:28.980 is arguably bigger than any solo artist you could 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:31.800 name. I mean, he didn't just write hits. He practically 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.539 rewrote the entire playbook for how global pop 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:37.280 culture operates today. We are talking about 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.719 Bang Siuk, the founder of HYBE, the mastermind 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:45.219 behind BTS. The guy the world knows is Hitman 00:00:45.219 --> 00:00:47.880 Bang. A man who literally built a cultural bridge 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:50.280 between Seoul and the rest of the world. And 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:52.280 it's a bridge so sturdy that millions of people 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:54.759 walk across it every single day. Exactly. But 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:56.640 we need to be really clear about this right off 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:58.719 the bat. We aren't doing this deep dive today 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:01.079 just to celebrate a discography. No, the timing 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:03.420 is it's crucial here. Right. End of the date. 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:08.500 It is February 25, 2026. And right now. This 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:11.420 absolute titan of the industry isn't standing 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:14.260 on a stage accepting a Grammy. He is standing 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:17.640 in the middle of a massive legal hurricane. One 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:20.439 that really threatens to tear down the very empire 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:22.959 he built. It's a huge, constantly developing 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.180 story. On one side, you have this narrative of 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:28.140 a creative genius, and on the other, you are 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:30.900 seeing headlines about police raids, seized shares, 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:34.099 and criminal referrals. It's intense. Very. It 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:36.400 is a classic rise and fall arc, but it's set 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:38.980 in this hyper -competitive world of K -pop and 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:41.299 high finance. So here is our mission for this 00:01:41.299 --> 00:01:43.480 Deep Dives. We've got a stack of sources in front 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:45.519 of us. We're pulling from his biographical data, 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:48.129 discography. records and some very dense financial 00:01:48.129 --> 00:01:51.150 news reports regarding a 2020 IPO investigation. 00:01:51.469 --> 00:01:53.930 Lots of paperwork. So much paperwork. But we 00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:55.549 need to figure out how an art student became 00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:58.010 a billionaire mogul and why the South Korean 00:01:58.010 --> 00:02:00.030 government is currently freezing his assets. 00:02:00.129 --> 00:02:02.090 To understand the alleged crime, you really have 00:02:02.090 --> 00:02:03.969 to understand the pressure he was under. And 00:02:03.969 --> 00:02:06.129 to understand that pressure, you have to understand 00:02:06.129 --> 00:02:08.349 the man himself. So let's start at the beginning. 00:02:08.930 --> 00:02:11.770 The origin story. Because looking at his background, 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:15.189 he wasn't exactly bred for the corporate boardroom, 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:18.229 was he? Far from it. Bang Si -Hook was born in 00:02:18.229 --> 00:02:22.710 1972 in Seoul, and he grew up in a musical home. 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:24.789 But, and this is the interesting part, his parents 00:02:24.789 --> 00:02:26.969 actually discouraged a career in the industry. 00:02:27.050 --> 00:02:29.530 Which is so common, right? Parents want stability. 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:32.610 Exactly. They wanted him to follow a much more 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:35.830 traditional, safe path. But Bang was stubborn. 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:38.750 He formed a band in middle school. He was... 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:41.740 writing songs, performing, doing the whole garage 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.979 band thing. But the real curve ball, and honestly, 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:47.060 this is the key to understanding everything that 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:49.020 he does later, is what happened when he got to 00:02:49.020 --> 00:02:52.580 college. Because he went to Seoul National University, 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.719 SNU, which is the top university in Korea. I 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:57.879 naturally assumed he compromised with his parents 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.139 and studied economics or maybe law. Something 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:03.139 sensible. He did not. He didn't even study business 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:05.580 or music theory. He graduated from SNU with a 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:08.080 degree in aesthetics. Aesthetics. OK, hold on. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.120 When I hear aesthetics, I think of interior design. 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:14.939 or making an Instagram feed look cohesive. I'm 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:16.840 guessing that's not what they teach at the most 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.500 prestigious university in the country. Not quite. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.879 So in an academic context, aesthetics is a really 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:25.620 deep branch of philosophy. Okay. It's the study 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:29.120 of beauty, taste, and the philosophy of art itself. 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:32.520 It asks these very abstract questions like, how 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:35.099 do we perceive beauty? How does art communicate 00:03:35.099 --> 00:03:37.860 complex emotion? How do symbols actually create 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:41.620 meaning for people? Wow. That is actually wildly 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:43.819 appropriate for K -pop. It's the missing link. 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:45.740 If you look at the K -pop industry today, you 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:47.879 know it isn't just about the song. It is never 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:49.740 just about the audio track. No, it's the music 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:52.539 videos, the outfits, the lore. Exactly. It's 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:55.139 the cohesive storytelling that spans album covers 00:03:55.139 --> 00:03:58.360 and social media campaigns. That is literal aesthetics 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:00.979 in action. Bang wasn't just learning how to arrange 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:03.439 notes on a page. He was learning how to construct 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:07.180 a complete sensory experience. That totally explains 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:09.479 the whole BTS universe thing. Right. All those 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:12.759 high -concept storylines that fans spend... literally 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:15.379 years decoding. He was approaching a boy band 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:18.379 like a philosophy project. Precisely. He treats 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:20.800 the audience not just as passive listeners, but 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.839 as active participants in a shared meaning. But 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:25.519 of course, before he could build that universe, 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:28.060 he had to pay his dues. Right. He debuted as 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:30.259 a composer while he was still in college. He 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:33.720 actually won the UJHaw Music Contest in 1994. 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:36.610 which is a very respected competition. So he 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:38.870 had that artistic credibility early on. He wasn't 00:04:38.870 --> 00:04:41.769 a corporate manufacturer. He was a genuine creator. 00:04:41.970 --> 00:04:44.750 He was. But his real commercial breakthrough, 00:04:44.970 --> 00:04:46.930 the moment he starts becoming a household name 00:04:46.930 --> 00:04:49.850 in the industry, happens in 1997. That is when 00:04:49.850 --> 00:04:52.990 he meets Park Jin Young. JYP, the legend himself. 00:04:53.170 --> 00:04:56.370 The one and only. When Park founded JYP Entertainment, 00:04:56.649 --> 00:04:59.310 Bang joined him as a composer and producer. They 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:02.629 became this incredibly prolific songwriting duo, 00:05:03.110 --> 00:05:05.250 inseparable in the studio. And this, by the way, 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:07.370 is where his famous nickname comes from. Hitman. 00:05:07.709 --> 00:05:09.170 I always thought that sounded, I don't know, 00:05:09.250 --> 00:05:11.670 a bit aggressive, like a mobster and assassin. 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:15.389 It was purely descriptive. So in the early 2000s, 00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:18.470 a group called G .O .D. became one of the absolute 00:05:18.470 --> 00:05:20.550 best -selling boy bands in the country. Huge 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.810 group. Massive. And Bang arranged their most 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:26.410 famous songs, tracks like One Candle in Road, 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.250 because every single track he touched turned 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:31.410 the gold. The industry just started calling him 00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:34.649 a hit maker. And the hitman tag just evolved 00:05:34.649 --> 00:05:36.870 naturally from there. And looking at our notes 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:39.910 here, he was working with everyone at JYP, Rain, 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:43.310 the Wonder Girls, 2AM. He was instrumental in 00:05:43.310 --> 00:05:45.350 building that whole era of music. He was incredibly 00:05:45.350 --> 00:05:47.230 successful there, very comfortable. But then 00:05:47.230 --> 00:05:50.910 in 2005, he decides to walk away. He leaves JYP 00:05:50.910 --> 00:05:53.490 to found his own independent company, Big Hit 00:05:53.490 --> 00:05:55.810 Entertainment. And this is the part of the story 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:58.089 where usually the visionary succeeds immediately. 00:05:58.689 --> 00:06:00.410 But that didn't happen for him, did it? No, it 00:06:00.410 --> 00:06:02.370 was a real struggle at first. But the history 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:04.310 books are always going to focus on one specific 00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:07.750 discovery he made. He signed a kid, a 15 -year 00:06:07.750 --> 00:06:10.660 -old underground rapper. Correct. RM, the future 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:14.259 leader of BTS, he signed him at 15. It really 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:16.699 speaks to Bang's eye for talent. Or maybe that 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:19.699 aesthetic judgment we talked about. He saw global 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:22.399 potential in this young teenager. What I find 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.480 so interesting in the discography records here 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:28.149 is that even as the CEO of his own company, Bang 00:06:28.149 --> 00:06:30.850 didn't stop being a hands -on creative. Not at 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:32.769 all. He wasn't just sitting in a boardroom signing 00:06:32.769 --> 00:06:35.449 checks. He's a creator at his core. Look at the 00:06:35.449 --> 00:06:39.029 BTS album Wings from 2016. Bang actually co -wrote 00:06:39.029 --> 00:06:41.709 six songs on that album. Which is widely considered 00:06:41.709 --> 00:06:44.089 one of their absolute masterpieces. Exactly. 00:06:44.189 --> 00:06:46.889 His involvement was incredibly deep, and the 00:06:46.889 --> 00:06:49.769 industry rewarded that. That same year, 2016, 00:06:49.889 --> 00:06:52.089 he won the Best Producer Award at the Mnet Asian 00:06:52.089 --> 00:06:54.550 Music Awards and the Songwriter Award at the 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:56.889 Melon Music Awards. So fast forward just a couple 00:06:56.889 --> 00:06:59.470 of years. BTS becomes the biggest musical act 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:02.069 on the planet. Bang is named an international 00:07:02.069 --> 00:07:05.490 music leader by Variety in 2018. The success 00:07:05.490 --> 00:07:07.870 is astronomical. This is where our story has 00:07:07.870 --> 00:07:10.069 to shift gears. We move from the aesthetics phase 00:07:10.069 --> 00:07:12.410 to the empire phase. Right, because you cannot 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:15.129 have a band that globally dominant without generating 00:07:15.129 --> 00:07:17.209 an enormous amount of capital. And you can't 00:07:17.209 --> 00:07:18.829 manage that kind of capital without becoming 00:07:18.829 --> 00:07:21.350 a corporate mogul. And we are talking serious 00:07:21.350 --> 00:07:25.899 wealth here. In April 2019, his net worth was 00:07:25.899 --> 00:07:31.040 roughly $770 million, which is already staggering. 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:33.139 But the real wealth explosion happens the next 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:36.620 year, October 2020. The big hit IPO. Yes. It 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:38.980 was the largest ITO in South Korea in three years. 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:42.269 And overnight, Bang's net worth skyrocketed to 00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:45.529 2 .8 billion dollars. 2 .8 billion. Making him 00:07:45.529 --> 00:07:48.050 the only billionaire in the entire South Korean 00:07:48.050 --> 00:07:49.709 entertainment industry. And he didn't just sit 00:07:49.709 --> 00:07:52.209 on that cash. The sources show he diversified 00:07:52.209 --> 00:07:54.910 the company massively. He did. He built tech 00:07:54.910 --> 00:07:57.589 apps like Weverse. He acquired other labels like 00:07:57.589 --> 00:08:00.629 Source Music and Pledis Entertainment. He rebranded 00:08:00.629 --> 00:08:03.949 the whole company to HYBE Corporation. It's like 00:08:03.949 --> 00:08:06.149 you transition from a record label executive 00:08:06.149 --> 00:08:09.170 to a tech conglomerate CEO. And the world treated 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:11.910 him like for it. He was named in Variety 500 00:08:11.910 --> 00:08:14.649 in 2020. He was on the cover of Time Magazine 00:08:14.649 --> 00:08:18.850 in April 2022. And here's a detail I love circling 00:08:18.850 --> 00:08:22.970 back to his education. In 2022, Seoul National 00:08:22.970 --> 00:08:25.430 University gave him an honorary doctorate in 00:08:25.430 --> 00:08:28.250 business. The very first entertainment figure 00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:31.209 to receive one from SNU. It's like the ultimate 00:08:31.209 --> 00:08:33.529 academic validation. The establishment saying, 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:36.149 OK, your philosophy degree worked out just fine. 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:38.789 He was very generous with his wealth, too. We 00:08:38.789 --> 00:08:41.169 see a lot of philanthropy in the records. He 00:08:41.169 --> 00:08:43.610 donated five billion one to the Community Chess 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:46.490 of Korea in twenty twenty two. He gave aid for 00:08:46.490 --> 00:08:48.769 the Turkey, Syria earthquake victims in twenty 00:08:48.769 --> 00:08:50.990 twenty three. Even as recently as March twenty 00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:53.250 twenty five, he donated another five billion 00:08:53.250 --> 00:08:56.299 one to SNU for a cultural center. So up until 00:08:56.299 --> 00:08:59.100 extremely recently the narrative was flawless. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.580 The art student becomes a visionary producer, 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:03.980 builds a global empire, becomes a billionaire, 00:09:04.379 --> 00:09:06.779 and gives back to society. It was perfect right 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:08.940 up until the foundation started to crack. Let's 00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:10.600 talk about the legal storm because again it's 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:13.320 early 2026 right now and the picture looks incredibly 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:15.610 different today. When did the cracks actually 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:17.669 start to shut up? It really started in December 00:09:17.669 --> 00:09:20.889 2024. The Financial Supervisory Service, the 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:24.149 FSS, launched an investigation. And we need to 00:09:24.149 --> 00:09:26.230 pay close attention to the details here, because 00:09:26.230 --> 00:09:29.149 this is where the creative mindset directly clashed 00:09:29.149 --> 00:09:31.429 with the strict reality of financial compliance. 00:09:31.730 --> 00:09:34.250 What exactly is the core allegation? Because 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:36.830 financial reports can get so dense. The core 00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:39.509 issue revolves around that massive 2020 IPO we 00:09:39.509 --> 00:09:42.090 just discussed. The authorities allege that BANG 00:09:42.090 --> 00:09:44.700 entered into profit sharing with private equity 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:47.860 funds ahead of the IPO, and he did it without 00:09:47.860 --> 00:09:49.879 proper public disclosure. Okay, let's unpack 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:52.980 that for a second. Why is a profit -sharing agreement 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:56.259 a problem? If he's the founder, can he make private 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:59.120 deals to secure backing? Not when you are taking 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.389 a company public. In the stock market, transparency 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:05.450 is the ultimate rule. When public investors buy 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:08.049 shares during an IPO, they are making that decision 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:10.470 based on the financial disclosures provided by 00:10:10.470 --> 00:10:12.289 the company. Right. They need to know all the 00:10:12.289 --> 00:10:15.389 liabilities. Exactly. If the founder has secret 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:17.950 undisclosed agreements to share profits with 00:10:17.950 --> 00:10:20.610 private equity firms, perhaps to ensure a high 00:10:20.610 --> 00:10:22.710 valuation that changes the financial reality 00:10:22.710 --> 00:10:25.370 of the company, the public is essentially buying 00:10:25.370 --> 00:10:27.809 in blind to those obligations. It manipulates 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:30.879 the playing field. Yes. H -Y -B -E initially 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:33.299 denied wrongdoing. They stated that these agreements 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.120 were not actually mandatory for disclosure under 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:38.299 the regulations. They argued it was a technicality. 00:10:38.539 --> 00:10:41.200 Right. But the regulators absolutely did not 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.799 buy that argument. Things escalated dramatically 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:48.519 in 2025. On July 16, 2025, the Financial Services 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.019 Commission formally referred Bang and three other 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.960 executives to prosecutors. On suspicion of unfair 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:56.200 trading. That is a massive escalation. That's 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.159 a criminal referral. And then came the visual 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:00.440 that shocked the entire industry. Just a week 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:04.360 later, on July 24, 2025, police raided the HYBE 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:06.720 headquarters in Seoul. I mean, just imagine that. 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:09.460 This building is a symbol of Korean soft power. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.039 And you have police walking out with boxes of 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.340 documents and hard drives. It was unprecedented. 00:11:14.740 --> 00:11:16.820 Bang actually voluntarily returned to South Korea 00:11:16.820 --> 00:11:19.620 in August 2025 to cooperate with the investigation. 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:21.720 He sent out that company -wide message, right? 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:24.590 Yes. He apologized for the con... the situation 00:11:24.590 --> 00:11:27.649 it caused and he specifically stated he was putting 00:11:27.649 --> 00:11:30.789 aside urgent business to prioritize the investigation. 00:11:31.289 --> 00:11:33.690 Putting aside urgent business that is essentially 00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:36.110 saying I have to step away from the music and 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:38.710 the company to focus on keeping myself out of 00:11:38.710 --> 00:11:41.070 jail. Well his legal team certainly has their 00:11:41.070 --> 00:11:45.250 hands full because as of late 2025 the situation 00:11:45.250 --> 00:11:47.980 got significantly worse for him. In December 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:51.100 2025, the Seoul Southern District Court approved 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:54.379 the provisional seizure of bank shares in HYBE. 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:57.399 They froze his talk. Yes. Shares worth approximately 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:01.200 156 .8 billion won. That's about 118 million 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:03.759 US dollars. Exactly. And that same month in December 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.480 2025, raids were carried out on his personal 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:09.639 home and offices. It is such a stark, jarring 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.039 contrast. You have this man who studied aesthetics, 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.450 a man who spent decades perfectly curating these 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:18.070 beautiful cohesive narratives for his artists. 00:12:18.370 --> 00:12:20.490 And now his own narrative is completely out of 00:12:20.490 --> 00:12:22.529 his control. That is the ultimate irony here. 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:24.850 The hit man is caught in the crosshairs of a 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:26.970 financial system he tried to navigate like a 00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:29.029 creative project. And we should remind everyone 00:12:29.029 --> 00:12:30.929 these are still allegations at this point. The 00:12:30.929 --> 00:12:33.870 investigation is ongoing. But provisional seizures 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:36.889 of over 100 million dollars in raids on his home 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:39.450 that suggests the authorities are very confident 00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:42.190 in their case. Absolutely. The stakes are incredibly 00:12:42.190 --> 00:12:44.710 high. Which brings us to a really fascinating 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:47.559 point about his career trajectory. Remember, 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:51.580 in July 2021, Bang actually resigned as CEO of 00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:53.720 the company. Right. He wanted to return his focus 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.500 to music production. He stepped back to be chairman 00:12:56.500 --> 00:12:58.080 of the board. He wanted to get back to the art. 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:01.240 And he was very active recently. In 2024 and 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.220 2025, he has production credits for groups like 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:06.779 Alight. He worked on their song Magnetic. He's 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:09.480 got credits with Lesara Fim, TXT, and Hypen, 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.379 and the new global girl group Cat's Eye. He was 00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:14.960 still in the studio making hits. But now his 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.379 shares are provisionally seized. He's fighting 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:19.940 a massive legal battle. You really have to wonder, 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:23.080 how is this going to impact the creative direction 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:25.720 of HYBE moving forward? That is the question 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.059 on every investor's mind. When the visionary 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:32.159 mastermind behind your entire roster is entangled 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:34.700 in a high stakes financial investigation regarding 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:37.899 the very IPO that built the empire, it creates 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:41.159 a massive vacuum. It really highlights the danger 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:45.000 of that transition from artistic creator to corporate 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:48.100 mogul. Navigating the strict regulations of the 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:50.440 financial market requires a totally different 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:52.399 mindset than writing a pop song. You can't just 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.820 rely on aesthetic intuition when the financial 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.100 supervisory service is auditing your term sheets. 00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:59.259 No, you definitely cannot. It's a fascinating 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:02.639 duality. The creative genius who bridged Korea 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.480 and the world, currently fighting for his legacy 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:08.700 in a sole courthouse. It is a story that is far 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:10.919 from over. We will definitely be keeping a close 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.769 eye on this as it develops throughout 2026. This 00:14:13.769 --> 00:14:15.629 legal battle is going to have ripple effects 00:14:15.629 --> 00:14:18.809 across the entire global music industry. No doubt 00:14:18.809 --> 00:14:21.090 about it. Well, that wraps up today's deep dive. 00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:22.850 Thanks so much for listening, and we will catch 00:14:22.850 --> 00:14:23.730 you on the next one.