Among 'BIG4' companies, which agency offers the highest salaries? Are you also curious how much Bang Si Hyuk, Lee Soo Man, etc. make a year? Keep reading!
According to THE FACT as per last year's business report of four domestic entertainment companies (HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment), where Bang Si Hyuk, Lee Soo Man, Park Jinyoung, and Yang Hyun Suk are the largest shareholders, a total of 11 people received more than 500 million won (408,500 USD) in annual salary.
Annual Salaries of Employees From 'BIG 4' Entertainment HYBE, SM, JYP, YG
HYBE
Starting with HYBE, Pdogg, a senior producer from the company who is also widely known as BTS producer reportedly received 40.77 billion won (about 32,644, 556.00 USD) as of 2021 including stock options.
Other people from HYBE who received the highest salaries included CEO Yoon Seok Joon (overseas business). He received 39.23 billion won (about 31.83 million USD) and CAMO Kim Shin Kyu who was paid 27.8 billion won (about 22.7 million USD).
The third one of Brand General Manager Min Hee Jin (CBO). He leads HYBE's new label ADOR. The fourth one is CEO Park Jiwon who received salaries of 526 million won (about 430k USD) and 59 million won (around 48k USD), respectively.
Meanwhile, "BTS father" Bang Si Hyuk, the chairman of HYBE's board of directors does not receive salaries. However, as the largest shareholder of HYBE (31.80%), the stock valuation based on the market capitalization (about 12 trillion won or 9.79 billion USD) amounts to 4 trillion won (around 3.3 billion USD).
In regards to normal employees, the highest salary being offered is about 97 million won (79k USD).
SM Entertainment
In SM Entertainment, home to top groups Girls, Generation, EXO, etc., four people earned more than 500 million won.
- co-CEO Lee Sung Soo: 762 million won (around 620k USD)
- co-CEO Tak Young Joon: 749 million won (around 612k USD)
- Kim Young Min: 517 million won (more than 520k USD) (severance pay as former SM General Manager)
- Nam So Young: 260 million won (around 212k USD) (former SM director)
However, Kim and Nam received higher than the aforementioned salaries when they were still working as officials. They had a whopping 1.74 billion won and 890 million won, respectively.
As for Lee Soo Man, the founder and the current executive producer of SM Entertainment (18.48%), he earned 25 billion won (20.4 million USD) in operating profit last year. He is not participating in the management of the company on paper.
Non-executive directors Kangta and BoA's salaries were not disclosed but BoA reportedly received 140 million won (around 115k USD) from stocks alone.
SM's Annual Salary for ordinary employees:
- 71.43 million won (around 58k USD)
JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment, where singer Park Jin-young is the largest shareholder (15.79 percent), was listed as the highest-paid person earning 837.61 million won (about 680k USD) per year.
Along with him, CEO Jung Wook is receiving an annual salary of 578.4 million won (around 470k USD)
When it comes to ordinary workers under JYP, they received about 61.3 million won (around 50k USD) annually.
YG Entertainment
Lastly, YG Entertainment, founded by former CEO Yang Hyun Suk failed to produce executives and employees who received more than 500 million won last year.
Former CEO Yang has not participated in the management of the company since quitting as an in-house director. After the trial in 2019, he has maintained the position of the largest shareholder (20.78%). In terms of market capitalization (about 1.15 trillion won or 938 million USD ), his stock valuation is around 230 billion won (around 188 million USD).
YG Entertainment employees received an average annual salary of 50 million won (around 40.8 USD).
READ MORE: How Much Money Do TWICE, ITZY, aespa & More Make a Year? Average Annual Salary in JYP and SM Entertainment Examined
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Written by Eunice Dawson
