HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk has revealed that his company was “on the verge of closing down” before BTS.
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Bang Si-hyuk recently made a guest appearance on the tvN talk show You Quiz on the Block, alongside fellow record executive J.Y. Park, the founder of JYP Entertainment.
During his appearance on the programme, the HYBE chairman opened up about how the company (then known as Big Hit Entertainment) was “pretty much drowning in debt” before the boyband’s debut, saying that they had owed about ₩10billion (US$7.4millon) at the time.
“We were seriously on the verge of closing down the business. But I managed to make BTS debut right before it went bankrupt,” he said, per SBS Star, adding that he had “no idea that BTS would become this big”.
“[BTS’ 2015 mini-album] ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Part 1′ received great love, and that was when I got the feeling that BTS would succeed,” Bang continued. “A little while after that, [BTS’ 2016 single] ‘FIRE’ literally went on ‘fire’.”
BTS in 2022. Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Later, Bang Si-hyuk also opened up about how “unbelievably happy” he is that BTS decided to renew their contracts with HYBE for the second time. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been that happy in a long while,” he said.
The businessman explained that “there are tons of agencies that a globally popular act like BTS can sign with”, but the septet’s decision to stay with HYBE “proved that we did well as a management agency”.
“When the members of BTS came to me and said, ‘Hyung, we believe in you. Let’s give it another try’ […] I was jumping around in joy,” he added. “It has been over 20 years since I’d been in management. And those two weeks were the happiest weeks of my life after I entered this field.”
Bang’s comments come shortly after BTS member Suga revealed that he thought the boyband 2015’s ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1′ would be their last album.
Meanwhile, Jungkook’s ‘Seven’ has become the fastest song to reach 1billion streams on Spotify. The BTS singer also recently enlisted David Guetta for new remix of the hit single.
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