The man once hailed as the visionary behind BTS's global success is now facing serious scrutiny. On May 28 KST, news broke that Bang Si Hyuk, the chairman of HYBE Labels, is under investigation by South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service for alleged insider trading—and fans are furious.

According to reports, Bang is suspected of misleading HYBE shareholders back in 2019, falsely claiming that the company had no plans to go public. He allegedly used this misinformation to buy shares through a private equity fund he was personally profiting from—just before HYBE’s massive IPO in October 2020. The kicker? This move reportedly earned him 400 billion KRW (~$300 million USD), all while deceiving those who originally held stock in the company.

The Fallout: Fans Furious Over “Unfair Profit Distribution”

While this might already sound like a textbook financial scandal, what truly has the internet ablaze is how BTS—HYBE’s literal golden ticket—was treated in comparison.

Though Bang Si Hyuk granted each of the seven BTS members around 68,000 shares pre-IPO (then worth roughly 9.2 billion KRW per member), the numbers pale in comparison to the hundreds of billions allegedly pocketed by Bang and his unidentified affiliates. Some insiders are believed to have taken home upwards of 200 billion KRW each. Meanwhile, members like Jin, RM, and j-hope sold some shares post-listing and earned between 1.8 to 4.8 billion KRW—significant, but a small slice of the pie they helped bake.

And that’s exactly what has ARMY in an uproar.

“BTS built HYBE from the ground up, but Bang Si Hyuk gave them 9 billion each and made it so that his friends would pocket 100 billion…” one user fumed online.

“The members were exhausted, pressured, and young. They couldn’t speak up. And now we learn they were basically handed crumbs while total nobodies walked off with fortunes?”

“This is the K-Pop system. Use kids to rake in billions, then toss them aside.”

Others went even further, demanding justice and calling for BTS to “escape HYBE while they still can.”

What’s Next?

The case is currently being reviewed before being passed on to prosecutors. If the allegations are proven, Bang Si Hyuk could face serious legal consequences—and perhaps even a seismic shift in the future of HYBE.

Meanwhile, BTS continues to focus on individual projects, with military enlistment underway for most members. But as the dust settles on this financial controversy, fans are left wondering: Will BTS ever truly be free from the system they helped build?

Stay tuned for more updates as the story develops.