Guess How Much Money BTS Is Making Off Their Record Label Going Public? (Hint: It's not nearly enough)
Source - It pays to be in K-pop ... all 7 members in BTS are now multimillionaires and their longtime producer just joined the ranks of the triple comma club.
Here's the deal...Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korean record label behind BTS, is raising a ton of money after pricing its initial public offering at the top end of its target range following a ton of interest from investors, and it's paying off big time for the band members and company CEO.
Big Hit is issuing shares at $115 each, raising $822 million and valuing the record label at a whopping $4.1 billion. The deal is South Korea's largest stock market listing in 3 years.
BTS' members -- Kim Tae-hyung, Jung Ho-seok, Kim Nam-joon, Kim Seok-jin, Park Ji-min,Jeon Jung-kook, and Min Yoon-gi -- are benefiting from the IPO price ... they were each given 68,385 shares in Big Hit last month, and their stakes are now worth $7.9 million each.
Am I missing something here or does $7.9 million each sound like a preposterously low number for a band that brings in $1.4 billion annually to the South Korean economy? Again, I know nothing about the stock market or IPO's, but it just seems off. I talked to Large about it and glazed over once he started giving his opinion but I'm sure he would agree. Especially considering how much the head of the record label stands to make...
That's peanuts compared to Big Hit honcho Bang Si-Hyuk, the man credited with creating BTS back in 2013 and setting the band up for superstardom. Bang owns over 40% of the company, according to stock exchange filings, making him a billionaire.
Not a bad payday. I just think that a band that is the label, one that holds multiple world records including first K-pop artist to reach No 1 on the US album charts, most-viewed YouTube video in 24 hours, and being No 1 on the iTunes charts in the most countries ever deserves more. Not to mention that fact that their social media following is among most rabid on earth. Regardless, shout out to future Lou Pearlman, Bang Si-Hyuk, on becoming a billionaire.
Judging from the photo in this tweet he seems pretty happy about it...
Don't ask me what the text says. Also don't comment on this blog anything serious about finance or IPO's or how contracts work- I don't care. All I'm saying is I feel like they deserve more money. That's it. Congrats to the whole gang Take it away, BTS!