NewJeans Notice of Content Followed by Former Representative Min's Resignation
"Shareholders' Agreement with HYBE Also Terminated"
ADOR "Regret Unilateral Resignation... Fully Supporting NewJeans"
Exclusive Contract Dispute Expected to Intensify
Min Hee-jin, the general producer of the group NewJeans and former CEO of ADOR, has resigned from her position as an inside director. ADOR stated regarding Min’s resignation, "We regret the unilateral notice and will do our best to support NewJeans."
On the afternoon of the 20th, former CEO Min announced, "I am resigning from my position as an inside director of ADOR today," and revealed the breakup with ADOR and its parent company HYBE by saying, "I will terminate the shareholder agreement with HYBE and hold HYBE legally responsible for violations of the shareholder agreement." She also warned, "I plan to take necessary legal actions one by one against the numerous illegal acts by HYBE and its related parties."
She continued, "Despite the hellish dispute with HYBE that has lasted over seven months since the illegal audit by HYBE in April, I have done everything I could to uphold the shareholder agreement and restore ADOR to its state before April," but added, "HYBE still does not admit its wrongdoing and shows no sign of change, so I have decided that further efforts would be a waste of time."
Regarding Min’s resignation, ADOR released an official statement that afternoon saying, "We regret Min Hee-jin director’s unilateral resignation notice," and "We will do our best to support NewJeans so that they can grow and develop even further."
On the same day, former CEO Min also filed a lawsuit against HYBE at the Seoul Central District Court to claim payment following the exercise of a put option. According to the shareholder agreement between Min and HYBE, the exercise price of Min’s stock put option is calculated as "the average operating profit of ADOR over the most recent two years multiplied by 13, then divided by the total number of issued shares." Accordingly, the calculation years are 2022 and 2023. ADOR’s operating loss in 2022, the year NewJeans debuted, was 4 billion KRW. The operating profit for the previous year was 33.5 billion KRW. Currently, only NewJeans is signed under ADOR.
If the court recognizes Min’s right to exercise the put option, HYBE will have to pay approximately 26 billion KRW. However, HYBE’s position is that the shareholder agreement underlying this put option has already been terminated due to trust violations and other reasons. Therefore, there is keen interest in the court’s decision regarding the payment related to the put option exercise.
Meanwhile, in October, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed Min Hee-jin’s injunction request against HYBE, ADOR’s parent company, concerning the exercise of voting rights. Subsequently, the ADOR board meeting held to discuss the agenda of "appointing Min Hee-jin as CEO" was also rejected, ultimately blocking Min’s return to the CEO position.
Afterwards, on the 13th, NewJeans sent a certified letter to their agency ADOR under their real names?Kim Min-ji, Hani Palm, Marsh Daniel, Kang Hae-rin, and Lee Hye-in?demanding correction of all serious violations of their exclusive contracts within 14 days. They also stated that if their demands were not met, they would terminate their contracts. One of the main demands was the reinstatement of former CEO Min as ADOR’s CEO. Attention is focused on what decision NewJeans will make by the end of this month, when the 14-day grace period expires.
Min Hee-jin joined SM Entertainment in 2002 as a regular employee through an open recruitment process. In 2019, she joined Big Hit Entertainment, the predecessor of HYBE, as Chief Brand Officer (CBO), designed HYBE’s Yongsan headquarters, and oversaw the production of NewJeans in 2022.
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