South Korean police have formally asked prosecutors to secure an arrest warrant for Bang Si-hyuk, the legendary entertainment industry executive who built global K-pop supergroup BTS and founded HYBE, one of the world’s most valuable entertainment conglomerates. The charges stem from allegations of fraudulent stock manipulation ahead of HYBE’s $7.3 billion initial public offering on the Korea Exchange (KRX) in 2020.
Investigators allege that in 2019, while Bang was secretly advancing plans to take HYBE public, he intentionally misled early investors and venture capital stakeholders by claiming an IPO was off the table. This deception, police claim, induced early stakeholders to sell their HYBE shares to a private equity fund with undisclosed ties to Bang. After HYBE debuted on the Kospi index in October 2020 – with its IPO price doubling on the first day of trading – the private equity fund sold its stake for massive gains, and Bang is alleged to have taken a 30% cut of the illicit profits, totaling roughly 200 billion won ($136 million).
Bang, 53, has repeatedly and vehemently denied all wrongdoing, maintaining his actions were fully legal and transparent. His legal team released a statement this week saying, “We regret the police’s decision to request an arrest warrant. We will continue to cooperate fully with all legal procedures and make every effort to clearly demonstrate the legitimacy of our position.” HYBE has also pushed back against the allegations, noting that a copy of the disputed profit-sharing agreement was provided to IPO underwriters, who advised that no public disclosure was required.
The investigation into Bang is not a new development. It has dragged on for months, with police executing search raids at HYBE’s Seoul headquarters, freezing a portion of Bang’s personal assets, and imposing a travel ban that has barred him from leaving South Korea since August. Industry calls for him to step down as HYBE chairman have also circulated amid the probe.
The news of the arrest warrant request comes at a pivotal moment for HYBE, just weeks after BTS – the group that drove the company’s explosive growth and global fame – launched their first world tour in nearly four years following an extended group hiatus. The tour, which will stop at 34 cities across the globe, is already completely sold out, with industry analysts projecting HYBE will earn more than $1 billion from ticket sales, merchandise, and associated tour revenue. When the tour was announced in January, HYBE shares surged to a four-year high, adding more than 1 trillion won to the company’s total market capitalization. In a recent interview with Billboard, Bang reflected on BTS’s unprecedented cultural impact, calling the group “a tourist attraction… widely recognised and embraced by the global public.”
Bang’s journey to becoming one of the most powerful figures in global entertainment began decades ago, rooted in an early love of music. He performed his own original compositions as a member of a middle school band, and honed his songwriting craft during his university years. In 1997, he co-founded JYP Entertainment, now one of South Korea’s “Big Four” K-pop powerhouses, alongside Park Jin-young, earning the iconic nickname “Hitman Bang” after producing a string of chart-topping hits for early K-pop act g.o.d.
He left JYP in 2005 to launch his own independent label, Big Hit Entertainment, the precursor to today’s HYBE. In 2010, he began developing a seven-member hip-hop focused boy group, eventually shifting to a traditional K-pop idol model to align with industry market demands. That group, launched in 2013 as BTS, would go on to redefine global pop music: the act became the first Korean group to top Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and the first Asian act to surpass 5 billion streams on Spotify, cementing their status as one of the most successful musical groups in history. Today, HYBE also represents other top global K-pop acts including Seventeen, Le Sserafim, and newest breakout group Katseye.
When Big Hit launched its IPO in 2020, shares debuted at $235, more than double the original $110 offering price, and Bang’s net worth skyrocketed as a result. A 2019 Bloomberg estimate pegged his net worth at $770 million; as of last month, data from Seoul-based corporate research firm Korea CXO Research Institute shows Bang holds more than 13 million HYBE shares, worth roughly 5 trillion won, pushing his total net worth past $2 billion.
In December 2024, South Korea’s financial regulator launched a formal probe into the undisclosed profit-sharing agreements between Bang and private equity funds ahead of the IPO, expanding the existing investigation. Following the announcement of the arrest warrant request this week, HYBE shares closed 2.3% lower on Tuesday, defying a 2.7% gain in the benchmark Kospi index. Shares of the other three major K-pop conglomerates also fell in tandem with HYBE’s drop.
The case against Bang comes amid a broader government crackdown on stock market manipulation in South Korea. In recent years, penalties for illicit trading have historically been relatively lenient, limited mostly to administrative fines and formal warnings. But current President Lee Jae Myung has pushed for far harsher sanctions for market misconduct. In August, authorities launched a new joint task force staffed by officials from national financial regulators and the Korean Stock Exchange, tasked exclusively with investigating illegal trading activity. The task force operates under a strict “one strike and you’re out” policy, which mandates immediate suspension of any accounts linked to illegal activity, and allows for fines of up to twice the value of illicit gains.
Bang is not the first high-profile South Korean figure to face stock manipulation charges. In recent years, other prominent public figures including Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, and former first lady Kim Keon-hee have all been indicted on separate stock rigging charges, and all were ultimately acquitted. Under current South Korean law, however, anyone convicted of illicit gains totaling 5 billion won or more faces a minimum of five years in prison, up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.