Ji-Won Park, CEO of HYBE, announced on Feb. 22nd, “As of today (Feb. 22nd 2023), HYBE has officially completed the acquisition of the 14.8% stake held by Soo-Man Lee, founder and executive producer of SM Entertainment, and has become the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment.”

Park emphasized, “In the process of stake HYBE’s stake acquisition, we have solved issues regarding for executive Lee’s chain of command. From this moment forward, SM Entertainment will become a company with an exemplary organizational structure, that prioritises the rights and interests of the company’s shareholders.”

HYBE stated, ”We believe that the fans, artists, members and shareholders of SM Entertainment must be very concerned with rumours surrounding the company recently. HYBE respects the direction stated in the “SM 3.0” growth strategy, and the values and vision that the artists and everyone involved in SM worked so hard to create,” and added, “We would like to express our regret to the SM artists for the concerns. As HYBE greatly respects and cares for our artists as a management company, we will be providing the same treatment for the SM artists.”