Bang Si-hyuk, the founder and president of K-pop powerhouse Hybe — home to agency giant BTS — faces possible arrest after South Korean police moved on Tuesday to secure a warrant for his arrest in connection with an ongoing investigation into the company’s 2020 initial public offering.
According to Korean media reports, the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it has detained Pang on charges of fraudulent and unfair trading and is moving to arrest him. The agency alleges that he violated South Korea’s capital markets law and obtained approximately 190 billion won ($129 million) in illicit gains during Hybe’s IPO.
At the heart of the case is a private equity arrangement that police allege was structured to mislead early investors in Hybe. Seoul authorities said Pang deceived early shareholders before the agency’s listing by directing them to sell their stakes to a private equity fund linked to his partners – and then pocketed about 30% of the fund’s profits under a prior agreement after Hybe went public. Pang has previously denied any wrongdoing.
The move comes just one day after Seoul Police Commissioner Park Jung-bo said during a press conference that the investigation into Bang is “basically complete” and will be completed soon. Pang has been banned from leaving South Korea since August last year as the investigation progressed.
Hybe has yet to issue a public response to Tuesday’s developments. The company’s shares fell as much as 2.9 percent in trading after news of the arrest warrant request.
The investigation dates back to December 2024, when South Korean financial authorities began examining whether Bang had entered into undisclosed profit-sharing agreements ahead of Hybe’s initial public offering. Police raided Hybe’s headquarters in Seoul in July 2025, and Bang voluntarily returned to South Korea the following month to collaborate. In December, the Seoul Southern District Court approved the temporary seizure of his shares in Haibei worth 156.8 billion won (about $118 million).
The potential arrest represents an extraordinary moment for one of the most influential figures in the global music industry. The 53-year-old Bang founded Big Hit Entertainment — Hybe’s predecessor — in 2005 after parting ways with JYP Entertainment, where he worked alongside founder Park Jin-young as one of the company’s first employees, earning the nickname “Hitman Bang” for his chart-topping prowess as a composer and producer. Big Hit had its ups and downs, even coming close to bankruptcy in 2007 — before Bang reoriented the company around a promising new boy band he signed in the following decade: BTS.
After debuting in 2013, BTS has become the biggest pop group in the world, breaking barriers for East Asian artists and becoming the first Korean group to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The group is now in the early stages of a sold-out global comeback tour in support of ArirangIt is her first album in nearly four years.
BTS’ commercial success has turned Big Hit into a global pop empire. The company went public on the Korea Stock Exchange in October 2020 in what was then South Korea’s largest IPO in three years, and was rebranded as Hybe in 2021. Under Bang’s leadership, the company has acquired a sprawling roster of local brands. In 2021, it paid $1.05 billion to acquire Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, acquiring the management rights of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. She has since added a quality control label to Atlanta hip-hop and moved into Latin music.
Today, Hybe is the most dominant force in the K-Pop world. According to some local estimates, Bang’s stake in Hypei alone is worth up to 4.8 trillion won ($3.6 billion), making him the only self-made billionaire in the Korean entertainment industry.
