BREAKING | CEO of SM Entertainment orders seizure of phones and computers from employees, power struggle at SM continues.
Many believe that the power struggle at SM Entertainment is not yet over.
In February, the HYBE Labels – Kakao acquisition of SM Entertainment drew much public attention. In the end, HYBE Labels sold all the shares it acquired from former Chairman Lee Soo Man to Kakao, abandoning its ambition to take over SM.
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Since then, there have been new developments in the case. It was revealed that Kakao was searched on April 5th on suspicion of stock price manipulation in the SM acquisition deal. On April 13th, a company official disclosed that one day before Kakao was searched, the SM management requested employees to submit their mobile phones and laptops. This was a request from the new CEO Jang Cheol Hyuk, who took office on March 31st.
The official stated: “The CEO explained that it was for preparation of an external investigation.” CEO Jang Cheol Hyuk requested everyone’s cooperation and warned that anyone who does not comply should be ready to resign. Some anonymous posts expressing dissatisfaction with this decision also appeared on the anonymous forum Blind, which is exclusively for office employees.
However, later on, SM Entertainment denied the claim of collecting employees’ computers and phones. The company stated that they were checking the system for prevention and detection of information leaks, as part of their security measures.
In February, former Chairman Lee Soo Man unexpectedly sold 14.8% of the shares to HYBE Labels. Bang Shi Hyuk’s side continued to show ambition to acquire more shares and take over SM. However, HYBE later withdrew from the deal, and Kakao emerged as the winner.
SM Entertainment, known as the “empire,” is the home of many famous artists including Kangta, BoA, DBSK, Super Junior, SNSD, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT, and aespa.
Source: SPOTV News.
