Lorenzo Yoon, former Big Hit executive and co-ceo of HYBE America, has stepped down from his position making Scooter Braun the sole CEO of HYBE America
Ithaca Holdings founder Scooter Braun was named as sole CEO of HYBE America — the agency of international pop stars Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande — as announced by Variety on Wednesday, January 25.
Lorenzo Yoon, the previous global CEO since May 2020 before being co-CEO of HYBE America together with Braun, has reportedly stepped down from the rebranded Ithaca’s partnership with Korean entertainment powerhouse HYBE.
Yoon has been a part of Big Hit — HYBE’s former company name and home to the biggest South Korean group BTS — since 2010 as head of strategic planning and was tasked with “localizing the K-pop business model in the US music industry,” per a 2021 announcement according to Variety.
As of writing, Yoon’s next role in the company has yet to be disclosed.
Braun’s Ithaca Holdings merged with HYBE in April 2021, giving access to 100 percent of its properties and management's clients Bieber, Grande and Demi Lovato, among others, as well as Big Machine Label Group.
After linking up with HYBE, Braun joined the board but retained the CEO title for its American business, while Bang Si-Hyuk, who founded Big Hit in 2005, stepped down from the CEO post in July 2021 and remains chairman.
HYBE America joins other smaller companies under HYBE including HYBE Japan, BIGHIT MUSIC, PLEDIS, Entertainment, BELIFT LAB, Source Music, and ADOR, which are home to K-pop staple acts Tomorrow x Together, Enhypen, Seventeen, Le Sserafim and the newly debuted girl group New Jeans.
According to a report by Bandwagon Asia, HYBE is cooking another project which aims to assemble a new girl group that will combine the very best of K-pop and the American music industry, as it partnered with Universal Music Group.
Apparently, the global auditions already received more than a 100,000 applicants willing to undergo training.
Tags: #HYBE, #kpop, #BigHit