“Men Took It All” – Female Leaders Expose HYBE’s Dark Side Before IPO


 HYBE Controversy: Female Executives Allegedly Forced Out of Stock Options to Benefit Male Leader

Amid ongoing investigations into Chairman Bang Si Hyuk for allegedly misleading shareholders, online communities have raised suspicions that no female executives at HYBE were granted stock options prior to the company’s 2020 initial public offering (IPO). The privileges reportedly went almost exclusively to male executives and foreign investors. Prominent female figures such as Choi Yoo Jung, Chae Eun, and Min Hee Jin were allegedly excluded from the promised shares.

🔸 Choi Yoo Jung, co-founder of HYBE and producer of BTS’s iconic The Most Beautiful Moment in Life album series, sold her stake and left the company before the IPO. She later revealed: “There was never any discussion about an IPO.”

🔸 Chae Eun, instrumental in BTS’s expansion into the U.S. market, stated: “They promised to grant me stock options but came up with excuses to avoid it. I believe many people experienced the same. If you resign voluntarily under pressure or are encouraged to step down instead of being fired, the law won’t protect you. They calculated everything so I would leave on my own and lose my right to stock options.”

🔸 Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin recalled a salary negotiation in January 2019: “Chairman Bang said there were no plans for an IPO and suggested I take cash instead of stock. I trusted him and signed a contract for a higher salary.” She was later restricted by a non-compete clause and prevented from receiving shares.

These revelations have sparked allegations of gender discrimination within HYBE, suggesting that the company deliberately pressured female executives to resign in order to block them from profiting from the multi-trillion won IPO.

🔸 After 2021, male executives reaped massive benefits:

Bang Si Hyuk: ₩400 billion

Kim Jung Dong: ₩100 billion

Yang Jun Seok: ₩50 billion

Kim Chang Hee: ₩50 billion

> “Women built this company, but men divided the profits among themselves. It’s disgusting,” one netizen commented.



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