Top K-Pop Entertainment Agencies Release Info on Their CEOs’ 2022 Earnings
The four biggest entertainment companies in the K-Pop industry recently shared information on their top executives’ remunerations. The reported figures cover salaries and bonuses received for the first half of 2022 based on semi-annual reports submitted by each entertainment company.
1. JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment (JYP) founder, singer, and producer Park Jin Young received a salary of ₩2.10 billion KRW (about $1.60 million USD), which is ₩234 million KRW (about $179,000 USD) in salary and ₩1.90 billion KRW (about $1.45 million USD) in bonuses in the first half of the year.
JYP CEO Jung Wook received a salary of ₩156 million KRW (about $119,000 USD) and a bonus of ₩1.10 billion KRW (about $839,000 USD), for a total of ₩1.26 billion KRW (about $958,000 USD). The company stated that these figures were “in accordance with the executive remuneration regulations, the basic salary was paid in consideration of job duties, leadership, professionalism, and contribution to the company.”
JYP Entertainment posted a ₩15.1 billion KRW (about $11.5 million USD) net profit during the April to June 2022 period. Their strong performance was due to the concert ticket sales from the world tours of TWICE, Stray Kids, and 600,000 copies of Twice member Nayeon’s solo album sold by Twice member, which was released on June 24.
Twice and ITZY will each release a new EP, while Stray Kids is slated to release a digital single in the third quarter. Twice will also roll out a Japanese album by the end of September.
2. SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment CEO Lee Sung Su received ₩1.89 billion KRW (about $1.44 million USD) which is comprised of his actual salary at ₩159 million KRW (about $121,000 USD), along with the bonus of ₩1.65 billion KRW (about $1.26 million USD).
Co-CEO Tak Young Jun received ₩1.88 billion KRW (about $1.43 million USD)which is comprised of his actual salary at ₩158 million KRW (about $121,000 USD) along with the same bonus of ₩1.65 billion KRW (about $1.26 million USD).
Producer Lee Soo Man, founder of SM entertainment and the largest shareholder with an 18.46% stake in SM, is no longer part of the board of directors, and his salary was not disclosed.
SM Entertainment recently released aespa‘s and Super Junior‘s albums last month, and Girls’ Generation album this August.
3. HYBE
HYBE CEO Park Ji Won accumulated a total of ₩700 million KRW (about $534,000 USD) for the first half of the year, with a salary of ₩250 billion KRW (about $191 million USD) and a bonus of ₩450 million KRW (about $343,000 USD). The company states, “the performance pay was approved by the board of directors based on a comprehensive evaluation of management performance in 2021 taken into account.”
The remuneration of Bang Si Hyuk, chairman of HYBE’s board of directors and the company’s largest shareholder with a 31.8% stake, was not disclosed.
HYBE recently debuted two girl groups, namely LE SSERAFIM and NewJeans, through its subsidiaries Source Music and ADOR, respectively. HYBE is currently holding global auditions in pursuit of its plans to debut more groups through its existing subsidiaries in 2023.
4. YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment did not disclose the earnings of its executives. It is interpreted that this is because the registered executives who do not receive more than ₩500 million KRW (about $381,000 USD) are not obligated to disclose. According to the semi-annual report by YG Entertainment, the average remuneration paid to seven directors and auditors, including CEO Hwang Bo Kyung, was ₩139 million KRW (about $106,000 USD).
The company released only one album during the second quarter from its boy band iKON. However, BLACKPINK is making a comeback in September for the first time in two years with the full-length album “Born Pink.”
