BTS members rank among wealthiest shareholders in entertainment industry

All seven members of boy band BTS are part of the 10 billion won ($7.7 million) shares club, dominating the list of richest stockholders in Korea's entertainment industry.

All seven members of boy band BTS are part of the 10 billion won ($7.7 million) shares club as of December, according to Korea CXO Institute's report published Monday. [BIGHIT MUSIC]

All seven members of boy band BTS are part of the 10 billion won ($7.7 million) shares club, dominating the list of richest stockholders in Korea's entertainment industry.

Their gain is attributed to the success of multiple artists signed under HYBE's music labels this year, with groups including NewJeans and Seventeen, along with the solo endeavors of BTS members, dominating global music charts. As of December, a total of 34 people were placed on the list of people in the entertainment business with shares worth over 10 billion won, according to private company researcher Korea CXO Institute’s report on Monday. The estimated value of total shares held by the 34 individuals on the list was 4.67 trillion won.

Excluding the BTS members, most of the people on the list were entertainment company producers and executives.

The list was comprised of individuals who held shares in production or distribution companies in the movie, records, drama, webtoon and web novel industries, but did not include those in the games, character IP or travel industries. Shares pertaining to only one category per individual were considered.

Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook’s shares were estimated at around 16 billion won, while J-Hope, RM and Jin’s shares were valued at around 14.6 billion won, 13.5 billion won and 12.2 billion won, respectively. Each of their personal shares jumped in value over 20 percent compared to February this year, according to the research institute.

HYBE founder, chairman and producer Bang Si-hyuk topped the list with 3.07 trillion won worth in stocks, or 13,151,394 shares.

According to Billboard, Bang owns 31.8 percent of HYBE’s stakes. The estimated value of his stocks make up 65.8 percent of all shares held by the 34 people on the list.

Second and third on the list are JYP Entertainment founder and CCO Park Jin-young and then YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun-suk. Park’s share of JYP is estimated to be worth 501.8 billion won, while Yang’s YG stocks are valued at 168.5 billion won.

A total of 12 shareholders of HYBE made the list.

Scooter Braun, CEO of HYBE’s U.S. subsidiary, who is known for his involvement in the production and management of artists including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, had the second most HYBE shares after Bang. As of December, he held HYBE shares worth 84.7 billion won. Yet his stocks had depreciated in value by 5.5 billion won since February.

The valuation of the seven BTS members’ shares was also estimated to exceed 10 billion won each. They had received 68,385 shares each from Bang when they renewed their contracts with the company for the first time in 2018.

The members’ special contract with Bang for stocks had come to an end in September. Due to the termination of the shareholder contract, BTS members are no longer obligated to disclose their stocks. The Korea CXO Institute said it had made the estimates for the members’ stocks using prior disclosures, as HYBE had previously announced that the members had not sold their stocks in the company.

“For stocks in the culture and content category centered around movies, records and drama content, their future stock prices are highly impacted by whether specific actors or singers remain with the agency,” said Korea CXO Institute Director Oh Il-sun.

“This is interpreted as evidence that in addition to CEOs of listed companies, cultural figures such as celebrities are developing into ‘human capital’ that greatly affect corporate value beyond the simplified ‘human resource’ level."

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]