Min Hee Jin Raises Questions Over HYBE’s Compensation Structure

Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin has questioned HYBE’s compensation system for its executives.

On December 18, KST, Min appeared at the Seoul Central District Court for the hearing of her lawsuit against HYBE regarding the exercise of put options and the payment of stock transaction proceeds. During the hearing, she stated, “I believe HYBE has been overly generous with compensation for its executives.”

When HYBE’s legal representative asked if she had made any financial promises while recruiting former ADOR vice president Lee Sang Woo, Min Hee Jin clarified that it was more about compensation than personal financial promises. “I am someone who cares deeply about compensation and wanted to provide the maximum possible compensation to other employees as well. There were no private compensation deals,” she argued.

Min further stated that HYBE’s compensation system was unfair, alleging that the conglomerate overallocated stock options to label executives. When HYBE’s representative questioned whether she deemed the stock options given to her as “over-allocated” as well, Min responded, arguing that she was referring to their allotment being proportional to her capability. She asked, “whether label CEOs received them based on their relationship with Chairman Bang Si-hyuk or based on performance,” adding that she saw her own compensation as rather insufficient.

I don’t know if performance was properly evaluated and if compensation matched that. Honestly, right now it’s just being handed out indiscriminately. I thought my employees deserved proper compensation.

— Min Hee Jin

In early November last year, Min notified HYBE that she intended to exercise a put option on her ADOR shares. According to the shareholders’ agreement, the base years for calculating the put option were 2022 and 2023. During that period, ADOR’s operating profit was ₩4.00 billion KRW (about $2.71 million USD) (an operating loss of 4 billion won) in 2022, and [krw 33.5 billion [/krw] in 2023. The 2022 loss appears to be due to ADOR’s sole artist, NewJeans, debuting in July that year.

According to ADOR’s audit report released last April, former CEO Min holds 573,160 shares (18%) of ADOR stock. Based on this, the amount former CEO Min could receive was estimated to reach [krw] 26 billion [/krw].

Regarding this, HYBE argued that the shareholder agreement was terminated in July, rendering the exercise of the put option null and void. Former CEO Min countered that there was no breach of the shareholder agreement and that HYBE’s termination notice is invalid.

While Min Hee Jin is fighting against HYBE’s alleged insufficient compensation, she herself stands accused of providing excessive compensation to her former boyfriend. Read more here:

Min Hee Jin Accused Of Providing Excessive Incentives To Ex-Boyfriend