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Min Hee Jin vs HYBE: Court approves injunction to block company from firing ADOR CEO in shocking ruling
The Seoul Central District Court has approved an injunction filed by ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin to stop her termination amid HYBE feud. Read more below.
A major breakthrough came for the ongoing HYBE-ADOR power struggle as the court approved Min Hee Jin’s injunction against HYBE’s exercise of voting rights. This decision by the court completely shifts the course of this public feud between the parent company and its subsidiary ADOR.
Min Hee Jin wins injunction against HYBE for banning their voting rights in upcoming shareholders meeting
On May 30, Korean media outlets reported that the Seoul Central District Court had approved the injunction submitted by ADOR’s CEO Min Hee Jin for banning HYBE’s exercise of voting rights in the upcoming general shareholders meeting on May 31.
Her decision for this injunction was aimed at preventing HYBE from removing her as the CEO of ADOR. As a major shareholder of the company, HYBE would have the upper hand in the shareholder meeting.
However, with this decision by the court, the parent company will not be able to process Min Hee Jin’s dismissal immediately despite being the 80% stakeholder.
The primary agenda of the upcoming shareholder meeting is to decide Min Hee Jin’s fate in ADOR, but with the injunction win, she is now able to stop the process till further update.
The court also presented its judgment for the decision explaining that Min Hee Jin's action might be an act of betrayal towards HYBE, but it's difficult to rule this out as a breach of trust.
In addition, the court also announced that if the agency violates its obligation of not exercising voting rights, they have to pay a sum of 20 billion won in compensation.
For HYBE, the only option is to gather evidence and request another shareholder meeting or appeal the court’s decision about Min Hee Jin’s injunction.
Meanwhile, according to reports, HYBE has already selected the best candidates as a replacement for Min Hee Jin as ADOR’s CEO. Among those C-suite executives are Chief Strategy Officer Lee Jae Sang, Chief HR Officer Kim Ju Young, and Chief Financial Officer Lee Kyung Jun.
Ongoing HYBE-ADOR conflict summarized
For the unversed, the power struggle between HYBE and its subsidiary ADOR arose when CEO Min Hee Jin was caught planning to usurp management rights from the parent company. HYBE launched an audit against her for further inspection. As more evidence was gathered, the company asked Min Hee Jin to step down as the CEO of ADOR, the agency behind NewJeans.
However, the conflict started making headlines after she started bringing many claims against HYBE, even accusing the agency of plagiarizing NewJeans’ concept for their latest girl group ILLIT.
The parent company also filed a lawsuit claiming Min Hee Jin leaked confidential trade information to outsiders, with whom she schemed ADOR’s separation from HYBE.
However, as the court ruled in Min Hee Jin's favor, all eyes are on how this power battle will be played out from now on.
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