Ex-Ador Head Min Hee-jin Scores $18M Verdict in Hybe Dispute

Photo Credit: Ador CEO Min Hee-jin / Korean News1

A Seoul court has handed ex-Ador CEO Min Hee-jin a nearly $18 million win in her put option sub-dispute with Hybe.

Regional outlets shed light on that sizable verdict – the newest byproduct of a years-long contract confrontation between Min and the K-pop giant – today. Numerous headlines later, many are familiar with the marathon episode, complete with Min’s ouster, NewJeans’ would-be exit from Hybe’s Ador, and much more.

Here, though, Min sued her former employer over its attempt to stop her cashing in on Ador shares via a put option. As some will recall, multiple sums have been attached to those shares since the showdown initiated.

But according to the Korea Herald, factoring for Ador’s average operating profit and more under the terms of the actual agreement, the option entitles Min to a ₩25.5 billion (currently $17.7 million) windfall.

Now, it appears that the exec will collect the sum, which Hybe had for obvious reasons resisted paying.

While the company maintains that it was justified in dismissing Min – purportedly dissolving the put option in the process – the Seoul Central District Court found that her pre-split actions weren’t “a serious enough breach to justify contract termination,” per the Herald.

In brief, Min’s alleged discussions with outside investors (reportedly concerning plans to wrest control of Ador from Hybe) seem “‘to have been premised on Hybe’s consent’” and approval, without which “‘such plans would have had no legal effect,’” according to the court.

Besides green-lighting her put option compensation, the court therefore ordered Hybe to pay a combined $2.2 million/₩3.1 billion to two other ex-Ador execs who’d also exercised. In a statement, Hybe touched on possible plans to appeal the “regrettable” verdict, the Korea Times relayed.

On the opposite side of the suit, Min rather unsurprisingly expressed “deep respect” for the ruling and emphasized plans to put the showdown in the rearview so as to resume her own career.

Especially with NewJeans having returned to Ador/Hybe following a protracted contract battle, what will this career look like?

Well, Min provided a far-from-subtle hint by responding to the decision via her newly disclosed label, Only One Always Known (OOAK) Records.

OOAK and Min herself have been aggressively teasing a debut artist and release for a week now. One of the many published images and videos suggests that both might arrive on February 23rd.