In a shareholders' meeting between HYBE and its sublabel ADOR, held in Seoul on Friday, significant changes were announced, although Min Hee-jin will retain her role as ADOR CEO. As reported by Korea Times, HYBE has appointed three of its executives to ADOR's board. The new members include HYBE's Chief Human Resources Officer Kim Ju-young, Chief Strategy Officer Lee Jae-sang, and Chief Financial Officer Lee Kyung-jun. This restructuring aims to provide HYBE with greater control and to address internal confusion within ADOR.

Min Hee-jin retains CEO position

Despite HYBE's initial plans to remove Min Hee-jin from her CEO position at ADOR, citing allegations that she conspired with aides to take control of the company, Hee-jin remains in her role. She has consistently denied these allegations. The decision follows a court injunction on Thursday, which prevented HYBE from exercising its voting rights to dismiss Hee-jin during the meeting, Korean media reported.

What was the feud between HYBE and ADOR?

The conflict between HYBE and ADOR began on April 22, 2024, when HYBE initiated an audit of ADOR's management. HYBE suspected that Hee-jin was attempting to seize control of ADOR, which holds an 80 percent stake in the company. This led to the shareholders' meeting being conducted in an undisclosed location, following the court's intervention.

On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court commented on the case, stating that while Hee-jin had "clearly" sought independent control of ADOR, she had not moved to the actual implementation stage. The court described her actions as a "betrayal" but did not find them to constitute a "breach of trust" as claimed by HYBE, Korean media reported.

In addition to appointing new board members, two previous board members, identified as Kim and Shin, who were close aides of Hee-jin, were removed. This move is part of HYBE's strategy to stabilise ADOR by placing executives familiar with the current situation in key positions.