Bang Si Hyuk Forecast To Become Richest Person In Korean Entertainment After IPO

CEO Bang Si Hyuk may soon be the richest person in the Korean entertainment industry if his company, Big Hit Entertainment, goes public with an IPO.

In recent years, a second Korean Wave of global idol groups such a Big Hit Entertainment’s international sensation, BTS, have raised entertainment stock values to new heights. If Bang Si Hyuk goes public with an IPO, which is the very first sale of stock issued by a company to the public, he is expected to hold several hundred billion KRW worth of stocks.

Right now the richest companies in the Korean entertainment industry are considered the “Big 3”: SM Entertainment (valued at 1.01 trillion KRW), JYP Entertainment (710 billion KRW), and YG Entertainment (540 billion KRW).

Lee Soo Man, founder of SM, is currently the wealthiest individual in the entertainment industry, but he may not be for long.

Last year, Big Hit’s operating profit rose to over 32.5 billion KRW, due to BTS’s global popularity, and surpassed the operating profits of SM, YG, and JYP.

If Big Hit’s market value reaches its 700 billion KRW estimation, the company will pose a threat to the “Big 3’s” on-going market domination. Since Bang Si Hyuk holds 50.88% of Big Hit’s stocks, his stock holdings would be worth a mind-blowing 350 billion KRW!

Big Hit’s proposed capitalization potential seems well within reach, given that BTS’s popularity shows no sign of waning. The only question now is, will Bang Si Hyuk go public with an IPO, or not?