Bang Si-hyuk faces his biggest test yet, was BTS’ global boom ‘Predictable’?

Bang had first mentioned the possibility of taking HYBE public as early as 2017, telling Bloomberg that he was in discussions with investors such as Legend Holdings and LB Investment.

By 2019, the company had already begun its formal preparations — requesting a designated audit from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), a move often seen as a clear step towards an IPO. HYBE finally debuted on the KOSPI in October 2020.

The controversy lies in what happened just before that. Some early shareholders sold their stakes to Stick Investment and Eastone Equity Partners for around 30,000 to 40,000 won per share — long before the stock’s IPO price shot up to 135,000 won, and later to 258,000 won on its first day of trading.

Investigators believe that a letter sent by HYBE assuring shareholders that there were “no immediate plans for an IPO” was misleading, especially since the audit application suggested otherwise.

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Complicating the matter further, Eastone Equity Partners — one of the funds that bought those shares — was founded by Kim Joong-dong, a long-time acquaintance of Bang.

Police suspect Bang encouraged Kim to establish the fund to discreetly purchase shares, later benefiting through a 30 percent profit-sharing deal. HYBE, however, insists that the investment was a last-minute attempt to stabilise the company when other investors backed out due to uncertainty over BTS’ future and the group’s military service plans.

Investigators say Bang’s profit-sharing arrangement should have been disclosed in HYBE’s official filings, calling the omission a violation of financial law.

HYBE argues the agreement wasn’t intentionally concealed and that earlier investors still profited before the IPO.

With Bang questioned twice and placed under a travel ban, the case now sits at a critical point.