[Exclusive] “NewJeans… valued at over 1 Trillion won” … Min Heejin, VP Lee’s Text Messages Acquired
[TVDaily Kim Jihyun Reporter] Day 36 of the HYBE, Min Heejin conflict. This issue isn’t like the ‘Kalguksu’ situation (ok reporter, I see you with the shade). Neither is it important whether it is Chairman Bang Sihyuk or CEO Min Heejin who has a closer relationship with NewJeans. The core issue revolves around the control over management rights.
TV Daily has obtained text conversations between ADOR CEO Min Heejin, VP Lee, and other key ADOR executives. These reconstructed messages reveal the conversations between CEO Min and VP Lee on the subject of the HYBE v. ADOR management rights conflict.
“If we make things difficult for HYBE, ADOR will be free.” “It’s important to move before BTS’s military discharge.” “In the end, we must use the public.”
This past February, VP Lee, known as CEO Min’s right-hand, drafted a one-year plan for ADOR, starting from when all BTS members would complete their military service. The goal? Ador’s Freedom(?). VP Lee suggested to CEO Min that they should make things** difficult for “them” (HYBE) in order to gain freedom for ADOR**. They criticized HYBE’s multi-label structure and their delusion of setting up an IT business. They were dissatisfied with HYBE’s management style and planned to formalize these complaints.
[2024 Feb 4th, Monday]
VP Lee: We need to move before BTS returns. From now until a year out.
MHJ: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
VP Lee: Within 1 year, [we’ll use] the Multi-label system, America disease (aka obsessed with expanding West), delusions of becoming a IT platform (aka making Weverse). If they’re destined to get fXXXed, then let them get fXXXed, I guess… So we’ll make things difficult for them and we’ll get our freedom.
MHJ: That’d be nice.
VP Lee: This is my plan for ADOR
!중략/Break!
MHJ: Guess we’re gonna have to use the public, ugh
VP Lee: If news about unfairly ousting [people/you] spreads, that too will cause people to lose trust in HYBE, right? If this kind of wide-spread damages builds up, there’s be some large bleeding [from HYBE]
MHJ: We need to plan how to escape when HYBE is under attack
MHJ: This XXXXX (Name of Media outlet) Let’s meet this dude sometime. XXX (analyst) introduced me to this reporter.
VP Lee: Ok, sounds good. We will proceed carefully. First, we’ll meet and build rapport. Then, like the rain wets one’s clothes (wtf so poetic), we’ll meet accountants, competitors, investors, outside directors, stockbrokers, the media, and public institutions. We can start informally via personal networks, not publicly. Just like how you build your brand with your personal skills.
MHJ: You’re right. It’s better to do things personally.
VP Lee: At any rate, my plan for this February is to create these alliances externally (and paint a picture aka make it look good to outsiders), while cultivating ADOR’s organizational strength.
[2024 March 15th, Friday]
VP Lee: No matter how I think about it, the damage we would suffer if the members leave would be too great (We would have to abandon all of the past albums and start over, and all the brand contracts are tied to ADOR).
VP Lee: But just as you said, I think we can use the price as a negotiating tool.
VP Lee: What I mean is, no matter how insanely high HYBE demands (to break the contract), it will be difficult to match that with their set amount (ex. 600 billion won, 10 billion won monthly * 60 months (5 years))
VP Lee: Even with the contract termination fees (600 billion) + new contract fees (100 billion) + initial company investment (20 billion), 720 billion will be enough.
VP Lee: If we negotiate this way, we may be able to meet at around 800 billion won.
MHJ: Noooo, you need you put their future value.
MHJ: It’s fortunate that Bang Sihyuk and Park Jiwon have shitty luck ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
MHJ: So they’ll definitely call for over 1 trillion won based on future evaluation.
MHJ: Hey. Those guys bought a company with nothing for 1 trillion won. Do you think they’d give up NewJeans for 800 billion? Do you have no common sense?
The same day, the conversation continued in detail. CEO Min’s instructions regarding Vice President Lee’s idea: “Guess we’re gonna have to use the public, ugh.” It was the ‘mediaplay’ that CEO Min claimed to hate so much.
CEO Min, who criticized HYBE’s ‘mediaplay’ in a press conference earlier this month, devised a plan with VP Lee to make HYBE subject to public criticism. CEO Min believed that this moment would be the time to make ADOR independent. CEO Min and VP Lee even exchanged the names of media outlets and journalists to be mobilized via text. Reporter XXX from XXXXX. This journalist had previously written several critical articles about HYBE. The journalist mentioned in the text was also introduced by an analyst who had directly analyzed VP Lee’s documents, which were found by HYBE’s audit.
NewJeans’s value is 1 trillion won. A calculation made by Min Heejin, who claims not to care about money.
March 14th, their conversations progressed further into the so-called execution stage. If [errata, likely a typo for “despite”] claiming not to have met investors, CEO Min and VP Lee had already met with investors. Those investors’ condition was NewJeans. Their condition was that all of the NewJeans members must be brought from HYBE. The next day, CEO Min and VP Lee calculated the compensation amount that would be incurred if they took NewJeans out of HYBE.
(Note, because Korean doesn’t have pronouns, it’s exceedingly difficult to interpret the above texts. The way they’re worded makes it seem like they want to negotiate the price to be higher, even though that would obviously make it harder to break the contract. There’s 2 possibilities. The unknown “they” is referring to investors and they want to try and milk more money, or “they” is referring to HYBE and they want to purposely hike up the price so that the investors change their initial condition of needing all members to break their contract. )
[2024 March 18th, Monday]
VP Lee: Hyung, do you know OOO Finance? There’s someone named Chairman OOO.
Private Equity Firm CEO: Nope.
VP Lee: If you don’t know them, then I guess they’re not worth mentioning. Thank you.
Private Equity Firm CEO: They sound sus just from their name.
VP Lee: Agreed
Private Equity Firm CEO: Hey OO, I guess this guy has some money.
Private Equity Firm CEO: But even if they might not have enough to make a deal with you.
Private Equity Firm CEO: Is this person gonna be the financial backer?
VP Lee: I think so.
VP Lee: He nominated himself ㅋㅋㅋ
[2024 March 19th Tuesday]
VP Lee: GXX and XXX Investment firm, I heard these places have a lot of interest in K entertainment.
VP Lee: According to this hyung I know, It’ll be much easier to find a FI (Financial Investor) rather than a SI (Strategic Investor), and it’ll give us more freedom. The reason is:
VP Lee: 1. Strategic Investors (SI) will always try to move things in a way that benefits their own business. 2. Financial Investors (FI) just care about getting a profit out of their initial investment and won’t interfere with our business. 3. After drawing the big picture, gaining sympathy from FIs, and growing independent from H, the ideal scenario is to grow the company to exit or go IPO, and I agree with him.
VP Lee: In addition, he thinks leaving the company to start anew or trying to terminate the contract now is too wasteful.
VP Lee: He added that it’s not unheard of in the capital market for minority shareholders who effectively run the company to break through the control of the majority shareholder parent company to establish themselves as the actual owners.
VP Lee: The most important thing is the determination not to lose (this guy is sooo poetic for no reason)
VP Lee: He said things in such a hopeful light. That person.
VP Lee: Well, other than that, he also said stuff like, ‘hide your claws’ and ‘even if it’s dirty, endure.’ But I felt that the important thing was the information.
VP Lee calculated the contract termination fees, new contract fees, and new agency investment fees for NewJeans. He estimated that they needed to secure approximately 800 billion won. CEO Min lashed out at the 800 billion won estimate. According to CEO Min, the value of NewJeans exceeded 1 trillion won. She insisted that they should demand an amount over 1 trillion won from investors.
As CEO Min has previously stated, all of these conversations can be considered ‘casual talk’ and ‘jokes’ amongst colleagues. However, it is undeniable fact that their plans moved beyond just text and into action. On March 18th, VP Lee spoke to the head of a private equity firm to confirm that he had found an investor willing to invest in ADOR. It was Chairman XXX of XXX Finance. According to them, Chairman XXX is the ‘new financial backer.’ (Note, ‘쩐주’ or JJeonju, is slang for Jeonju ‘전주’, meaning investor.)
Making their plan a reality was not easy. After discussion, they concluded that terminating NewJeans’ exclusive contract and taking NewJeans out of HYBE would not be easy (no shit, dumbasses). CEO Min, VP Lee, and Min’s close associates planned to leverage ADOR’s shares. The idea was for the minority shareholders to become the actual owners of ADOR. CEO Min possesses 18% of ADOR’s shares, and the remaining 2% is held by her close associates, including VP Lee.
CEO Min previously stated in her press conference that, “it is impossible to try and attempt a takeover against HYBE, who owns 80% of the shares.” However, CEO Min dreamed that impossible dream. She responded to VP Lee’s statement, “it’s not unheard of in the capital market for minority shareholders who effectively run the company to break through the control of the majority shareholder parent company to establish themselves as the actual owners” by saying it was ‘hopeful.’ CEO Min wanted to become the owner of ADOR.
[2024 March 30th, Saturday]
MHJ: Direct internal complaint: The parents must be the ones to file it to HYBE.
ADOR Employee K: Oh, okay.
MHJ: What did you think I meant when I said direct internal complaint (likely referring unshown conversations above)
K: That’s how I initially understood it as well when I told you my opinion. Given that the internal complaint might become public knowledge, my opinion was that we should consider releasing an article first before filing the complaint.
MHJ: Why?
K: As I said in my opinion, it will be seen negatively if family members get involved in any way. From our perspective, it might be better to control the public opinion more first and then make it a public issue.
MHJ: Huh? I don’t understand.
MHJ: If it is revealed that ADOR leaked the article, it might cause contractual issues.
MHJ: ADOR cannot engage in fraudulent acts, so the parents’ complaint must be confirmed first.
K: I might be saying this because I’m not fully aware of the contract details.
MHJ: But you’re speaking from a general perspective, which is also worth listening to.
[2024 April 20th Saturday]
MHJ: But even if we don’t make an external announcement and just quietly talk internally about selling ADOR or whatever,
MHJ: We’ll become the people getting sold and lose control of the situation. Do you understand what I’m saying?
MHJ: I don’t know what the purpose of the risk you’re talking about is.
MHJ: And what risk does the FTC have?
MHJ: whether they investigate us or not, whether that investigation fizzles out or not
MHJ: By then, the album-pushing issue will be widespread and the entire world will be going nuts.
MHJ: It’s better for us to just quickly say something publicly in this situation.
MHJ: The best thing would be for HYBE to come and try and compromise with me to try and prevent this terrible situation.
MHJ: Then we can roughly say, oh, we’ll try and talk about it publicly or something.
CEO Min: “NewJeans’ parents need to act first”
On March 29th, VP Lee wrote the controversial ‘work note’ that he called a ‘personal memo’ to the media. This was right after CEO Min had met with the parents of the NewJeans members. The memo outlined grievances against HYBE and the process of informing the media about these issues. It included points such as ▶ PR press releases, not saying hello▶ Stealing concepts ▶ Promoting it as the first girl group, among others.
The contents here closely align with CEO Min’s official stance that her conflict with HYBE stems from internal whistleblowing, not a coup to seize management control. Issues like the new girl group ILLIT, who are under HYBE’s subsidiary BELIFT Lab, being accused of copying NewJeans, and the delay in NewJeans’ debut compared to LE SSERAFIM were also raised.
One highlighted point was the mention of the term “moral hazard.” VP Lee planned to undermine HYBE’s ethical standards (i.e. the public’s view of HYBE as ethical). This sheds light on why CEO Min framed herself as a ‘whistleblower.’ Those that framed the term, ‘moral hazard’ then moved quickly. CEO Min instructed that an email containing these contents be sent to HYBE on April 3rd. They also pre-planned the time to inform the media—April 11—anticipating that HYBE would deny the accusations, and planned to launch a public opinion campaign.
CEO Min actively used and involved NewJeans’ parents. She told VP Lee and her close associates that the parents should be the one to raise issues with HYBE first. ADOR could not directly perform these acts, so the plan was to have the parents raise the issues first and then ADOR would step in.
CEO Min has said "[her] relationship with NewJeans is more than you can imagine" and that they are "like daughters that I had myself." At the very least, we can see CEO Min's sincerity towards NewJeans is genuine. After all, in Mama Min's eyes, they are precious daughters worth 1 Trillion Won, even if they "become as fat as pigs."
https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/ … nt/l5uo0x0
попутно переводчик охренел от того, насколько предвзята автор статьи против мхд ну да с такими сообщениями это скрашивается.