ADOR’s Min Hee-Jin has stepped down from her CEO position. K-Pop powerhouse company HYBE announced the decision in a press conference on August 27, 2024 via several South Korean media sites like Korea JoongAng Daily and Yonhap News Agency.
Min Hee-jin joined Big Hit Entertainment in 2019 and was involved in the reconfiguration of the company to HYBE, which is now home to groups like Seventeen, BTS, TXT, and ENHYPEN. She was appointed CEO of ADOR in November 2021. The company debuted the highly successful group NewJeans under Min’s creative direction. The five-member girl group debuted in 2022 with their hit single “Attention” and has performed at Lollapalooza. Their second EP Get Up debuted on the top of the Billboard 200 in 2023.
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In April 2024, HYBE commenced an audit on Min Hee-jin and ADOR executives. HYBE told Billboard they “called them to summon a shareholder meeting and sent an official letter to ask CEO Min to step down.” Min refuted the claims in a press conference. Throughout the next couple of months, she made claims that subsidiaries within HYBE like Belift Lab are copying NewJeans’ concepts with groups like ILLIT and the companies are complicit in the alleged infringement. Later, Source Music, which is home to LE SSERAFIM and is also under HYBE, sued Min for 500 million Korean won (about $361,000). The lawsuit accuses Min of defamation and disruption of business stemming from comments made in the press conferences.
Is Min Hee-jin still working with NewJeans?
According to ADOR’s statements via Soompi, Min Hee-jin will still be part of NewJeans’ production team. “Former CEO Min Hee Jin has stepped down from the CEO position but will continue to serve as an internal director of ADOR. She will also continue her role in producing NewJeans,” the statement read.
As for the new CEO of ADOR, HYBE appointed Kim Ju-young who they stated is “an HR expert with experience in various industries, and will be responsible for stabilizing and reorganizing ADOR’s internal structure.” ADOR will also separate internal organization within the company and will now separate production and management.
How did Min Hee-Jin react to the news?
According to Soompi, a representative of Min Hee-Jin said that she “was suddenly notified on Saturday, [August] 24 that a board meeting would be held on [August] 27 regarding a change in the CEO position, and she attended the meeting via phone call on [August] 27.”
The statement continued that Min was not aware of her dismissal. “The decision to dismiss CEO Min Hee-Jin was made unilaterally without her consent, which is a clear violation of the shareholder agreement,” the statement said. “The company announced that CEO Min Hee-Jin would continue producing for NewJeans, but this was not discussed with her and is a unilateral notification from the company.”
