fromtenthousandfeet

[fromtenthousandfeet]

This is a good translation of an informative article about BSH

[fromtenthousandfeet]

Police are currently raiding HYBE headquarters. It’s all over the Korean news.

I haven’t had time to do part 2 of my deep dive. I’m aiming for Monday. Stay tuned.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

1) A Crime Hiding in Plain Sight

Hello Tumblr friends! Who's interested in learning more about Bang Si-Hyuk, his team of fellow fraudsters, and their 1.2 trillion KRW stock heist? I think I'm *finally* ready to write about this monster crime. I'm going to write this in installments to make it easier to read and digest.

Before I dig in, I want to address many of the comments I've seen from ARMYS on X who routinely downplay the severity of this financial crime, or dismiss in outright as some sort of witch hunt. No! Bang and friends committed serious financial crimes. The list of victims includes early Big Hit investors, Big Hit employees, IPO investors, and potentially everyday Korean citizens whose retirement funds, managed by the Korean National Pension Fund (NPF), which may have been caught up in the fraud. And while it may not feel like it, if you have ever bought BTS's music, purchased concert tickets, spent your precious money on merchandise, or consumed paid content, then you, too, are a victim. I say this because ultimately, HYBE has no value without a revenue source. You made the company valuable in the first place, and BSH and a handful of his associates extracted that value from the IPO for their personal gain.

This installment is entitled A Crime Hiding in Plain Sight because the IPO investors who were blindsided by a sudden deluge of HYBE stock being sold immediately after the company went public, and the resulting massive downswing in the stock price. I'll get into more of the details of the actual scheme itself in my next post. Suffice it to say, investors knew right away that they had been scammed. Here are several articles from 2020 - right after the IPO - with all the details of who and what they did!

[Exclusive] 4 Big Hit executives involved in private equity fund management company that led to 'stock price plunge'

and

[Exclusive/Signal] Former Executive Who Invested in Big Hit Resigns Just Before IPO

CIO and outside directors from Big Hit were concerned about the conflict of interest controversy surrounding the establishment of a pre-IPO fund exclusively for the company… Officials resign this month, putting shareholder damage on the back burner. Big Hit draws a line by throwing 360 billion won worth of stocks into the market, saying, “There is no connection to the sale of fund shares.”

Both of these articles identified the private equity funds (PEFs) involved and the key players. Notice these stories came out within days of the IPO date of October 15, 2020. We've know who was involved in flooding the market with shares and reaping huge profits right from the start.

So what changed? If nobody cared in October of 2020, why do we care now?

At the end of November, 2024, stories broke about Bang PD's 30% commission fee from the PEFs scheme, which was a whopping 400 billion KRW (approximately 290 million USD), plus the performance bonuses (okaaaay) given to various individuals from the PEFs who all had ties to BSH. The total amount they amassed from their scheme is believed to be 1.2 trillion KRW.

Days later, SK president, Yoon Suk-yeol, declared martial law and tried to pull off a (failed) military coup. This action led to his subsequent impeachment, removal from office, and a new presidential election. The new president, LeeJae Myung, ran on a platform of crackdowns on financial fraud and tackling the Korean Discount problem.

BSH had many friends in the previous administration who have been covering for him. Without the failed military coup and resulting new administration, I think there's every reason to believe BSH and his colleagues would have gotten away with their scheme. They may still, but it's a very good sign that they are in the Korean news every single day.

I suspect a proper investigation and a thorough audit of the company's records may uncover more fraud and crimes. We shall see.

Okay, I'm stopping here for now. Tomorrow I will share with you the details of exactly what the fraud entailed and who was involved.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

That book is essentially one long propaganda piece, undeniably sponsored and approved by Hybe. The title alone: “the making of a global pop superstar” pretty much gives away its entire agenda which is to again, manufacture a title and career for him. She clearly had little credible material to support that claim about his global stardom so instead decided to spend 200+ pages spiralling into fandom politics and using jimin as collateral to prop up that narrative, and gain sympathy points not only for herself but for jk.

All in all, the book ends up being more embarrassing for him and his image than damaging to anyone else. A serious biography about a genuinely respected global artist wouldn’t need to lean on discussing trivial Twitter discourse or diminish other artists to justify its subject’s success. The fact that she thought this was even necessary and it was approved by hybe just shows how flimsy the entire premise of the book is, and how contrived the narrative about his success has become.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

🤞

[fromtenthousandfeet]

Omg! Look at the notes his fellow soldiers wrote! That’s pure love and respect.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

Ijbol. There's nothing left for them to watch from and it's armys loss lmao

https://x.com/soboksobokjmi/status/1932252461131346300

This is pretty funny. I wonder how many people will actually participate in the boycott?

[fromtenthousandfeet]

Is everyone following this story? This company is so dumb. Anyway, add this to the recent list of subtle sabotage.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

In other news, Jimin’s fans have really outdone themselves for his discharge. Wouldn’t it be fun to be in SK to see everything!!??

Happy edit! The amazing balloon project has been successful moved. I hope the coffee truck for the media gets moved in time, too. K-PJMs are insane 😂

[fromtenthousandfeet]

Is anyone else completely stumped by WHO leaving the US Spotify chart? How??

[fromtenthousandfeet]

[fromtenthousandfeet]

For those interested in Bang PD’s massive fraud allegations, this article is a good starting point.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

https://x.com/jellymimi1013/status/1927667141920379175?s=46

Here I am with my “favorite” topic

Hi Anon. I’m right there with you! I will do my best to write a breakdown of what Bang and his pals got up to as soon as I have time.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

A million times this.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

FYI - American award shows are super dumb. There’s a reason why nobody watches them or gives a shit about the winners.

Signed, a completely unsurprised American

[fromtenthousandfeet]

I genuinely think that out of the members, at least Namjoon knows about SB's shady intentions and history, especially what happened with TS. I just wonder how he feels knowing that BPD put everything in that man's hands, and about his closeness with JK. I know Namjoon can't do anything about it, but sometimes I think about him knowing who that guy is and having to deal with the fact that his career and his group are in SB's dirty hands

This ask is from 3 days ago. Sorry I took so long to post it.

I think the whole group likely knew about Scooter's shady business dealings. How could they not? They're in the industry. They have access to the world wide web.

Look at this miserable crew posing with Bang PD and Scooter at the 2022 Grammys. RM's face says it all. Notice JK is the only one who looks a little bit happy (same during Festa hiatus announcement).

To be honest, I feel badly for Namjoon. He really put his heart and soul into BTS (Jimin, too!), only for his role as songwriter to essentially be outsourced by BPD starting with Dynamite and then the rest of the English trilogy. Then add SB to the team?!? And now JK gets leapfrogged over him and everybody else?!? I guarantee he and the rest of the team know more than we will ever know.