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Hive and former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin: The story behind the firing and the put option controversy
The recent dismissal of Hive’s subsidiary, ADOR, by its former CEO, Min Hee-jin, has become a hot topic of discussion. The decision was made by ADOR’s board of directors, and while Min Hee-jin stepped down as CEO, she remained a board member of the company.
It was also announced by Hive that she will continue to be in charge of NewJeans’s production. However, the case is not just a simple personnel action, but a complex financial one involving shareholder agreements and put options, which has attracted great attention from the industry.
Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of NewJeans, led the company’s success and established herself as a leading figure at ADOR. However, the conflict between Hive and Min Hee-jin dates back to late last year.
When ADOR was founded in 2021, Min Hee-jin was promised a 10% stake in the company, and later received an additional 10% based on the success of NewJeans, bringing her total stake to 20%.
Of this, 15% of the shares came with a put option, which means that Min Hee-jin has the right to sell the shares back to Hive under certain conditions.
At the center of the conflict is the put option and the shareholder agreement, which Hive entered into last year that set the put option multiple at 13x for Min Hee-jin.
However, Min Hee-jin’s camp demanded an increase to 30x, which Hive refused. If Min’s request had been granted, it is estimated that the amount of money she could have earned would have increased from around KRW100 billion to over KRW240 billion.
Hive did not accept Min’s demands and notified her of the termination of the shareholder agreement. In July, the possibility of exercising a call option on the shares held by Min was also raised.
Hive already had a call option to purchase 20% of Min’s shares under certain conditions.
While all of this was going on, Min was reportedly preparing a legal response to Hive’s decision to dismiss her.
Min Hee-jin has not yet made it clear whether she will continue to produce for NewJeans after her dismissal.
Hive announced that she would continue to be in charge of production, but Min Hee-jin responded that this was also a unilateral decision by the company.
She is preparing a legal response, claiming that the decision was illegal, which is likely to be fought out in court.
The industry is also eager to see how long the financial dispute surrounding the dismissal will last and what the outcome of the legal battle between the two sides will be.
The legal rights to the shares held by Min Hee-jin and whether Hive’s termination notice to its shareholders will be recognized as legitimate will be key issues going forward.
The case will go down as a classic example of a power struggle in the entertainment industry, and attention is focused on how Min’s role will change in relation to the future of ADOR and NewJeans.
The conflict between Hive and Min is more than just a personnel issue; it has industry-wide ramifications.
Depending on the outcome of the upcoming court battle, it could set an important precedent for governance in the entertainment industry.
It will also complicate predictions about Min’s future and the future of the company she built.
