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| Big Hit Entertainment founder and CEO Bang Si-hyuk speaks during a ceremony of company's KOSPI listing at the Korea Exchange on Yeouido in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
Big Hit Entertainment founder and CEO Bang Si-hyuk became a multi-billionaire following the initial public offering (IPO) of the entertainment firm on Thursday.
The stock price of the music label behind world-famous idol group BTS jumped to as high as 351,000 won ($307) on the first day of its listing on the main bourse. This made the firm's market capitalization surge to 11.88 trillion won, enabling Bang to become one of the richest entrepreneurs in terms of stock possession.
Bang is the largest shareholder of Big Hit with a 43 percent stake, and made a fortune overnight following the listing. Big Hit also became the nation's largest entertainment company, surpassing SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment combined in terms of market capitalization.
Bang established the company in 2005, and jumped into a world of stardom after the success of BTS which made its debut in 2013 and became a K-pop sensation by topping the list of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The listing of Big Hit has made headlines not just in the entertainment industry, but the local stock market, as Bang is expected to place his name on the list of stock billionaires, most of whom are the leaders of major tech conglomerates here.
As of the end of last month, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee topped the list of stock billionaires, holding shares worth 17 trillion won. Lee Jae-yong, the chairman's son and the de facto successor of Samsung Group, came in second with 7 trillion won.
All eyes are on whether Bang will be able to surpass Hyundai Motor Group honorary chairman Chung Mong-koo on the list. Chung's stock value reaches 4.2 trillion won.
Bang made his debut as a composer after graduating from Seoul National University. He then joined JYP Entertainment in 1997 and served as a senior composer and producer there. He created hit songs for Korean stars such as Rain and K-pop idol group G.O.D.
Bang's music label started making outstanding growth in recent years on the global popularity of BTS. Bit Hit achieved 416.7 billion won in sales in 2019, a tenfold growth from three years ago.
"Big Hit will continue to create a value chain in the music industry. We are a company that's well aware of the fandom business across the globe and are capable of creating new value out of it," Bang said Thursday during the firm's listing ceremony in Seoul.
