HYBE’s purchase of Ithaca married the two companies’ diverse range of services, including management, labels and publishing, for a deep roster that includes K-pop supergroups BTS and Seventeen, and U.S. pop stars Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
Braun will continue to lead Ithaca Holdings, the parent of SB Projects and Big Machine Label Group, while also acting as co-CEO of HYBE America. Jaesang Lee, who led HYBE’s acquisition of Ithaca, will be moving to the US as Braun and Yoon Seok-jun’s chief operation officer.
Over in Japan, HYBE is establishing a new regional division, HYBE Japan, that will be led by CEO Han Hyun-rok. The subsidiary will focus on signing local talent (a new boyband will be introduced soon) and managing the interests of other HYBE artists.
“This leadership improvement is a reflection of our strong will to take the lead in overall systemic change from leadership to realizing our mid- to long-term business strategy to become a global company,” HYBE said. “With the goal of leading aggressively, we have reorganized the scope of powers and responsibilities according to the expertise of each leader.”
