HYBE refutes Ador CEO Min’s denial of breach of trust

Ador CEO Min Hee-jin holds a press conference in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Image: Yonhap via The Korea Herald

HYBE Entertainment said Friday, April 26, the company is confident that Ador CEO Min Hee-jin was formulating deliberate plans for the subsidiary to break free from its umbrella company, amid continued mudslinging between HYBE and Min over allegations of the CEO committing breach of trust.

On Thursday, HYBE released personal messages between Min and Ador’s vice president, which contained a conversation concerning plans to separate from the parent company.

During a press conference later in the day, Min clarified that the discussion was nothing more than a private chat with personal complaints following mistreatment by HYBE.

In another press statement issued Friday, HYBE said the company did not accept Min’s claim that the discussion was simply a private conversation.

“There are records of discussions with the same purpose made over several months documented in transcripts and work journals. When discussions are held repeatedly over an extended period, with interventions from third parties, the discussion ceases to be merely a conversation and becomes a plan—and ultimately, the plan is executed,” HYBE said in the press release.

“Furthermore, the vice president of Ador, the counterpart with whom Min’s conversation took place, is a certified public accountant with specialized knowledge of corporate governance. He has also led numerous merger and acquisition processes for Hybe, while performing tasks related to HYBE’s listing process,” the statement said.

The statement added that since Min was having the discussions with a key member of the company who was able to look into all of Ador’s financial information, their conversations could not be viewed merely as private.

“It’s crucial not to casually disregard and overlook documents that have been discovered—which contain information about detailed calculations of money that can be obtained by exercising put options, and which also contain information about when to specifically take action. It is also important not to disregard the documents that contain terms such as rights infringement lawsuit, investment firm, public opinion quarrels, etc.,” the statement added.

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