HYBE Corporation, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, was founded by lyricist, composer, producer, and record executive Bang Si-hyuk in 2005. Along with the rebrand, the company acquired multiple South Korean music labels and entertainment companies as well as with the American investment holding group Ithaca Holdings. This diversified and expanded their portfolio both domestically and internationally, and further led them to acquire several established, successful artists such as Zico, SEVENTEEN, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande. HYBE is now the leading company among the so-called
Big Hit to HYBE: How did a small company rise to the top of the South Korean entertainment industry?
While Big Hit debuted their own acts early on and co-managed additional artists with the more successful company JYP Entertainment, the company would struggle for its first few years. With their
K-pop boy group BTS, Big Hit would find success and lay the foundations for its massive expansion. Though the group originally debuted in 2013, it took a few years for them to start their ascension to stardom. BTS first started receiving wider domestic recognition around 2015-2016 with their songs “I NEED U” and “DOPE”. International recognition started building up around 2017 with their hit song “DNA”. They have since gone on to perform at multiple major American music awards shows, taking home nominations and awards. This success is reflected in
HYBE’s sales revenue, showing a 6,084 percent increase between the start of BTS’ rise to fame in 2016 and 2023, which saw the continuation of their massive international success.
HYBE’s business expansion
With this boost in finances as well as brand recognition and value, Big Hit set out to secure its future by diversifying and acquiring other successful companies. The company invested in different sectors such as gaming, social networking, education platforms, and video streaming. Starting in 2019, it began acquiring other South Korean entertainment companies, eventually turning Big Hit Entertainment into HYBE Corporation, overseeing
several subsidies in multiple countries including South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
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