Hitman Bang Made a Billion Dollar Empire
By Kelli Luu | 11 Nov, 2025

HYBE Corporation is home to some of music’s biggest names internationally and it all started with one man and Big Hit Entertainment.

Inside this very Seoul office, history is being made. This isn’t just any music company, but the center of the K-pop empire. Welcome to HYBE Corporation, one of the most influential offices on the planet. 

HYBE currently operates as a record label, talent agency, publishing house, and more, but before it was one of the world’s biggest names, it was just one man’s dream. Music producer, Bang Si-hyuk, also known as Hitman Bang, founded Big Hit Entertainment in 2005. 

Without massive resources and backup, Bang Si-hyuk was on a mission and eventually signed music artist RM as the first member of boy band BTS in 2010. A nationwide search was conducted with hopes of finding other members of the group, which later allowed BTS to debut in 2013. Si-hyuk and the seven members from Big Hit Entertainment had no idea that they would go on to cement themselves into K-pop history. 

The criticism and rejection that Bang Si-hyuk and BTS received did not stop their run as they went on to conquer the global stage by 2017, selling out stadiums and topping music charts around the world. In 2021, Big Hit Entertainment rebranded as HYBE Corporation, marking a new era, not just for K-pop, but for Korean entertainment. 

HYBE was expanding quickly and acquired many other companies like Pledis Entertainment and Source Music. HYBE America was also launched in collaboration with talent manager Scooter Braun as the CEO who has managed icons like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. 

With his success, Si-hyuk has ventured off into gaming, fashion collabs, and has even built a digital platform called Weverse, where artists can interact with their fans directly. Today, HYBE is worth approximately $8.7 billion and stands as one of the world’s most powerful entertainment companies. 

Creativity never sleeps in these offices and at HYBE hundreds of creatives come together every day to shape pop culture and push the boundaries of what entertainment can be.