BTS broke touring records this summer. Their label’s founder was sent to prosecutors

By mid-August, BTS’s comeback tour had sold 2.3mn tickets across 38 shows and grossed $465.8mn, according to figures reported to the industry tracker Billboard Boxscore. It was the highest-grossing tour in the world this year, averaging about $12.7mn a night.

Four nights at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in May brought in $49.5mn from 246,000 fans, a record for the venue. Two nights at MetLife Stadium outside New York made another $31.8mn.

On 3 September, while the tour rolled on, Seoul police sent the case of the man who built BTS to prosecutors.

“No plans to list”

Bang Si-hyuk founded Big Hit Entertainment in 2005 and signed a group of teenagers who became BTS. The company, renamed HYBE, listed in Seoul in October 2020 and made him a billionaire.

Police spent about 20 months investigating what happened just before the listing. According to the Seoul Shinmun and other Korean papers, they concluded that in 2019 Bang and his associates told existing investors that HYBE had no plans to go public.

Those investors then sold their shares to a vehicle set up by a private-equity fund founded by former HYBE executives.

At the same time, police say, the fund’s own backers were told a listing was assured. When HYBE floated, the fund made large gains. Korean reports say Bang had an agreement to receive a share of the fund’s profits.

Police put the illicit gain at ₩263.1bn, about $190mn, and a court granted a freeze on assets of that amount before any indictment.

Four others, and one abroad

Bang was referred with four others: Lee Jae-sang, HYBE’s chief executive at the time; a former finance chief; and the heads of two private-equity firms involved in the transactions. A former chief investment officer left for the United States and is wanted by Korean police.

The charge is fraudulent unfair trading under Korea’s capital markets law, which can carry heavy prison sentences when the gains are large. Bang has not been charged. Prosecutors must now decide whether to indict, and they have previously questioned whether the losses fell on the market as a whole or only on a small group of investors.

The asset and the founder

For HYBE, the timing is awkward. BTS’s return after the members’ military service is the most valuable event in the company’s calendar, and the tour has driven its results all year. It is also a reminder of how much the company still depends on one act, and on the reputation of the man who assembled it.

Korean prosecutors move slowly. A decision on charges may take months, and a trial longer. The tour, meanwhile, keeps selling out stadiums, and HYBE’s most valuable asset spends its evenings on stage while its founder’s file sits with prosecutors in southern Seoul.

Sources

• Seoul Shinmun: Bang Si-hyuk referred to prosecutors after 21 months (3 Sep 2026)
• Money Today: “₩263.1bn gained by deceiving investors over listing”
• CF News: five referred, ₩263.1bn pre-indictment freeze
• IBTimes: Arirang becomes 2026’s top-grossing tour at $465.8mn
• Allkpop: BTS sets US stadium records with $49.5mn in ticket sales
• Wikipedia: Arirang World Tour

Cover image: Monbmon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.