HYBE IM – ADOR Internal Transaction of 4 Billion Won for Unclear Purpose

Concerns are being raised that HYBE, in its push to become a comprehensive entertainment platform, may be inflating its new business revenues through internal transactions between affiliates. This comes as HYBE IM, the gaming and software subsidiary, recorded 4 billion won in revenue from fellow affiliate ADOR.

Speculation suggests the revenue may have been generated when HYBE IM added NewJeans as a new artist to the mobile rhythm game ‘Rhythm Hive’ in August of last year. However, controversy is growing as critics point out that under normal circumstances, ADOR—the provider of the intellectual property (IP)—should have been the one to receive the revenue, not HYBE IM, which merely utilized it.

According to industry sources on the 17th, HYBE IM and ADOR disclosed at the end of September that internal transactions totaling 4.2 billion won occurred between the two companies in Q3 of this year. HYBE IM recorded 4.1 billion won in revenue from ADOR, while ADOR’s revenue from HYBE IM amounted to only 90 million won.

An industry insider noted, “HYBE is already seeking to take billions of won in revenue from ADOR each quarter, and now HYBE IM, which has yet to establish itself, is recording revenue for transactions with unclear purposes. If this structure continues, problems could accumulate, such as reduced settlement amounts that should be going to the artists.”