Bang PD, the Man Behind BTS, Steps Down as CEO

July 1, 2021

Bang Si-Hyuk (Bang PD) is stepping down from his role as CEO of HYBE, the company which launched K-pop juggernaut BTS, as part of the company’s leadership reconstruction plan so he can focus on his music production career.

Stepping down: HYBE, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, announced in an official statement that Bang will still be a chairman on the Board of Directors and assist in the “decision-making of the company’s core business.”

The leadership organization and company-wide move is to “accelerate global operations,” according to Variety. HYBE also says that the restructure is being implemented “to promote globalization through all-round deployment of top management leaders.”
They also “restructured the scope of roles and responsibilities to suit the expertise of each leader so they can aggressively lead and expand in the Korean, the U.S., and Japanese markets.”
Park Ji-won will be replacing Bang as CEO and plans to focus on “systematizing the broader organization in line with the company’s rapid growth” while overseeing strategies and operations.

Bang’s next step: The former CEO plans to focus more on music production, which is how he “rose to fame in the 1990s and early 2000s.”

He became known as the “Hitman” since he was “helming hits for artists such as g.o.d., Park Ji-yoon, Rain, Wonder Girls and others.”
“I don’t see myself as a great businessman, but more as a good leader,” Bang told Variety in 2019. “There are certain qualities that a manager should have, whether it’s a drive, or maybe an aggression, but I am fundamentally an artist, and I am not too results-or performance-oriented.”

Branches: HYBE America will operate under two branches of leadership with Lenzo Yoon and Scooter Braun as the CEOs.

HYBE announced that “Yoon will take the lead on localizing the K-pop business model in the U.S. music industry by supervising the entire process from training, production, marketing, etc. A global audition will kickstart the collaborative effort after the establishment of the joint venture.”
Braun, who also runs SB Projects and manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, will “take charge in HYBE’s U.S. business operations to establish a solid foothold and enhance competitiveness for HYBE while continuing to lead Ithaca Holdings.”
Jaesang Lee, Chief Strategy Officer, will also move to the U.S. as Chief Operation Officer of HYBE America, according to Music Business Worldwide.

Featured Image via KRelax

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