HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, the woman behind popular girl group NewJeans, are reportedly in a power struggle over the K-pop agency.

Today (April 22), South Korean news agency Newsis reported that the audit team of entertainment giant HYBE had launched an investigation against ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and an unnamed executive of the company. The latter had reportedly been part of HYBE’s investor relations team.

According to the report, the two ADOR executives were allegedly caught leaking confidential information in order to attract investors as well as induce HYBE to sell its ownership of the K-pop agency. Newsis also reports that HYBE is looking into possible legal action.

HYBE has since confirmed to Yonhap News Agency that it did initiate an audit against some executives of ADOR over a suspicion that they were trying to take control of the K-pop agency. No specific staff members of ADOR were named in HYBE’s statement.

ADOR was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of HYBE in 2021. The entertainment giant’s stake in the K-pop agency has since gone down to 80 per cent, with Min acquiring about 18 per cent of the company in 2023, per The Korea Times. The remaining two per cent are held by other executives of the company.

Before her appointment as the CEO of ADOR, Min joined HYBE as its chief brand officer. Prior to that the music executive had been a creative director at SM Entertainment, where she worked with groups such as SHINee, f(x), Red Velvet and more.