ENTERTAINMENT
Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin Wins Lawsuit Against HYBE Over Shareholder Agreement
On the morning of the 12th, the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Agreement Division 31 (Presiding Judge Nam In-soo) ruled in favor of Min Hee-jin in the lawsuit filed by HYBE to confirm the termination of the shareholder agreement and Min's counter-lawsuit for stock purchase payment.
The court ordered HYBE to pay Min approximately 25.5 billion KRW (around $21 million USD). As a result, Min will be able to exercise her put option and receive around 26 billion KRW (approximately $21.5 million USD) in stock purchase payments from HYBE. The put option payment is calculated based on ADOR's average operating profit over the past two years and Min's shareholding ratio.
The court addressed Min's 'NewJeans copycat claims' against I-LIT, stating, "It is difficult to view this as a serious breach of duty," and added, "The claim that I-LIT copied NewJeans is more about 'overall impression similarity' rather than specific items, thus appearing to be a mere opinion or value judgment. Since factual assertion is required to determine the truth or falsehood of such claims, there is no basis for alleging false information dissemination."
Towards the end of the ruling, the court noted, "Since ADOR is not a one-person company, shareholder conflicts are possible. Initial issues were raised through internal emails urging correction. An audit was conducted, and the conflict between the parties seems to have surfaced externally. The risk to ADOR from this is abstract and unclear. In contrast, Min Hee-jin faces a significant loss of 25.6 billion KRW (approximately $21.2 million USD) from the put option exercise. Therefore, a serious breach is required to terminate the shareholder agreement, and abstract risk factors alone are insufficient."
The case began in July 2024 when HYBE notified Min of the contract termination, citing her attempts to privatize ADOR and the resulting company losses. Min was subsequently dismissed from her CEO position in August of the same year and resigned from her director position in November, notifying her intention to exercise the put option.
HYBE argued that Min sought to independently control ADOR, citing KakaoTalk conversations and internal documents as evidence of her attempts to induce NewJeans members and their parents to terminate exclusive contracts. They claimed this destroyed trust between major shareholders, justifying the contract termination and invalidating the put option exercise based on an already terminated contract.
Conversely, Min's side refuted any contract violations, arguing that HYBE manipulated private conversations to create a scenario of share seizure or management takeover, with no actual investor contact or execution. Min claimed in multiple press conferences that HYBE's actions were a smear campaign to 'tame the label.'
By Min-kyung Lee, TenAsia Reporter 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr
