From Top Choreographer To Losing 25 Years Of Income: Fourth Generation Girl Group CEO's Past Struggle Gains Attention

Kim Gyu Sang, the CEO of NV Entertainment, recently became a hot topic among netizens after a social media post highlighting his journey went viral on July 6.

Before becoming a CEO, Kim was a dancer and a choreographer, dominating the K-Pop scene like no other. While appearing as a guest on the Guracheol show in 2021, he revealed how the career shift cost him everything he had earned in the past 25 years!

Kim Gyu Sang started out as a backup dancer for K-Pop artist Rain, who was his senior at Anyang Art High School. As he established himself as a choreographer, Kim worked with top groups and soloists like Lee Hyori, HyunA, SISTAR, Apink, and 4Minute. He also choreographed Brave Girls‘ iconic hit song “Rollin.”At his career’s peak, Kim confessed that he was making around ₩300 million KRW (about $229,000 USD) annually. He then joined Kakao as a performance director at Loen Entertainment, earning “millions” every month.

But all the wealth Kim acquired in his long career was gone when he established NV Entertainment in 2019. The label launched its first and only group yet in 2020, called Woo!Ah!. Despite getting initial investments, Kim said he had to sell his house and all the fancy cars he had collected over the years to keep his company going.

Kim talking about selling his high-end cars to finance Woo!Ah! and his label

When Kim Gu Ra asked how much money he had invested into this passion project, Kim Gyu Sang shockingly revealed that it was enough to buy a house in Gangnam, one of the poshest Seoul neighborhoods.

I earned about 300 million annually during my career as a choreographer, but I emptied all the investments I received in creating Woo!Ah!, as well as the wealth I accumulated over 25 years.

After investing his entire life’s earnings into Woo!Ah! and NV Entertainment, Kim now lives in a rented apartment and rides the subway or another employee’s car to commute to work. But his dedication to the group is unwavering. Woo!Ah! was initially a six-member venture, but after one of the members left only three months into their debut, it continued as a quintet. The current members of the group are Nana, Wooyeon, Sora, Lucy, and Minseo, and each of these members was cast personally by Kim Gyu Sang.

(From left to right) Woo!Ah! members Lucy, Wooyeon, Nana, Sora, and Minseo

The group’s leader Nana was discovered through a dance competition, while Wooyeon and Lucy were trainees at SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, respectively. Kim spent months trying to convince the two to join his label. Lucy ended up introducing Minseo to her CEO, following which she joined as a trainee. Finally, Kim went to Fukuoka to scout Sora, a Japanese girl whose dancing abilities had made their way to him through hearsay from industry insiders.

Since their debut, Woo!Ah! has released four single albums and a mini-album so far. Nana is also a co-MC of MBC M‘s Show Champion, along with Billie‘s Moon Sua. Additionally, she is currently a contestant on Mnet’s survival show Queendom Puzzle, along with her groupmate Wooyeon.