HYBE Shakeup: Park Ji-Won Steps Down As CEO, Jason Jaesang Lee To Succeed

Park Ji-Won resigned from his post as CEO of HYBE on Wednesday and will be succeeded by Jason Jaesang Lee, who previously served as the conglomerate’s chief strategy officer. HYBE is a massively successful South Korean entertainment company that produced K-pop acts like BTS, SEVENTEEN and NewJeans.

Park began his tenure as CEO in July 2021 after Bang Si-Hyuk stepped down and HYBE said he would continue contributing to the company, according to reports.

Lee has been instrumental to HYBE’s growth as a chief innovation and growth officer and HYBE America’s president. He implemented the company’s “three-pillar business model” and played a key role in the acquisition of other music labels and HYBE’s initial public offering. Before arriving at HYBE, Lee worked at Monitor Group, Hyundai Motors and Google.

The shakeup comes amid controversy with its affiliate ADOR, the label and management company of NewJeans run by CEO Min Hee-Jin.

In April, the K-pop multinational announced they were auditing ADOR and that Hee-Jin had allegedly attempted a rear-guard takeover of the popular girl group seeking outside investment and leaking sensitive information to get back her company and group. HYBE demanded her resignation.

Hee-Jin denied the accusations and leveled her own, claiming HYBE had plagiarized NewJeans’ sound/approach for other acts, cut her out of the action, gave her an unfair deal and favored other groups over NewJeans.