News Hybe/MHJ Civil War Megathread (2 Viewers)

[Selfmate]

the info that hybe was basically planning to shelve newjeans came from an exclusive interview with one of the moms though, even if that initial letter of complaint wasn’t intended to be made public they still have made public moves

moves and contermoves lol

 

[Selfmate]

Those pesky hard to answer yes/no questions

apparently he suffers from facial recognition blindness or at least that's the claim lol

 

[catonkatonk]

Damn.

 

[Selfmate]

The stock drop was caused by HYBE making a public announcement of the surprise audit. How could Ador have predicted either of those events?

not hard to do when there's lawsuits and drama involved...
the thing most investors want is certainty and volatility when one of the top GG under your company starts raising plagiarism and cults and shamans and lawyers are involved and audits doesn't look good

 

[catonkatonk]

not hard to do when there's lawsuits and drama involved...
the thing most investors want is certainty and volatility when one of the top GG under your company starts raising plagiarism and cults and shamans and lawyers are involved and audits doesn't look good

Absolutely hard to do when you're not the one that went public. HYBE went public. HYBE initiated the audit. By contrast, Ador was dealing with the matter internally with HYBE since March.

How can Ador have insider knowledge of an audit that was a surprise against them? If they knew about the audit, they would have destroyed evidence.
How can Ador have known HYBE would go public? That's a bananas move.

The cold hard fact is that the stock dropped because of actions HYBE took. Actions that Ador would have no prior knowledge of and therefore couldn't materially benefit from.

 

[Selfmate]

Absolutely hard to do when you're not the one that went public. HYBE went public. HYBE initiated the audit. By contrast, Ador was dealing with the matter internally with HYBE since March.

How can Ador have insider knowledge of an audit that was a surprise against them? If they knew about the audit, they would have destroyed evidence.
How can Ador have known HYBE would go public? That's a bananas move.

The cold hard fact is that the stock dropped because of actions HYBE took. Actions that Ador would have no prior knowledge of and therefore couldn't materially benefit from.

I dunno why they went public with the information - maybe hybe wanted to get ahead of the game since they feared that MHJ and Ador would go public first? who knows

regardless the allegation of stock manipulation is there and will have to be investigated by the police (or some other financial bureau I guess)

 

[mysteric]

[D-eye] "카톡은 개저씨를 못이긴다"…하이브, 상황인식장애 2

m.entertain.naver.com

it's joever not dispatch joining the beatings now lmao

 

[catonkatonk]

I dunno why they went public with the information - maybe hybe wanted to get ahead of the game since they feared that MHJ and Ador would go public first? who knows

That might be the case, and so the argument might be,
"Well, the VP sold his stock based on a plan Ador had to go public."
But there's problems with that.

Firstly, they would have to prove that Ador really were going to go public. Actually, a lot of HYBE's allegations revolve around what Ador was going to do. But that's a very difficult thing to prove. "It was just talk" is often a reasonable enough defence against it.

How many times have I said, in jest, or in frustration, "I'm going to quit my job"? More than once. Was I ever serious? Yes, and there were times when I did, in fact, quit my job. But, given a transcript of my statements, it would be impossible for an observer to determine when I was joking, when I was speaking out of frustration, and when I was serious.

The problem for HYBE is that they have to prove that steps were actively taken to enact the plans being talked about. So, if they have proof of MHJ meeting with investors, and those investors can testify to talk of spinning Ador off or supporting some other venture of MHJ, then they've got her. Do they have it?
We have talk that she met with shamens, that she met with lawyers. Her discussions with the latter are privileged under law. I wouldn't be surprised if the former was as well. Catholic priests, for example, are under no legal obligation (in most countries) to disclose crimes revealed to them in confession, and in the contrary, have a religious obligation to keep such disclosures strictly private.

It's even harder to prove that MHJ was going to go public with her dispute, because that is something she could have done on short notice with no significant planning required.

So in other words, HYBE could be completely, 100% right, but be unable to prove it. And yet their statements are full of - in my mind - unearned confidence. I feel like they're opening themselves up to a defamation case tbh.

Secondly, and probably more critically, Ador have a pretty strong case for why the VP sold his stock at that time. Actual receipts.

Thirdly, as going public would harm both HYBE and Ador's valuation, it would also therefore harm MHJ's net worth. It seems strange that they would concoct a conspiracy that would financially benefit the VP and harm the CEO.

On your last point, I have no deference to the authorities (in this case, the Korean equivalent of the SEC). It is extremely obvious that HYBE do not have a strong case here when it comes to insider trading (their other stuff, idk). That doesn't mean that they won't still succeed. But their success does not mean that they were right either.

Edit:

[D-eye] "카톡은 개저씨를 못이긴다"…하이브, 상황인식장애 2

m.entertain.naver.com

it's joever not dispatch joining the beatings now lmao

"What is more serious than facial recognition impairment is situational awareness impairment."

Absolutely savage. I'm dead.

 

[mysteric]

That might be the case, and so the argument might be,
"Well, the VP sold his stock based on a plan Ador had to go public."
But there's problems with that.

Firstly, they would have to prove that Ador really were going to go public. Actually, a lot of HYBE's allegations revolve around what Ador was going to do. But that's a very difficult thing to prove. "It was just talk" is often a reasonable enough defence against it.

How many times have I said, in jest, or in frustration, "I'm going to quit my job"? More than once. Was I ever serious? Yes, and there were times when I did, in fact, quit my job. But, given a transcript of my statements, it would be impossible for an observer to determine when I was joking, when I was speaking out of frustration, and when I was serious.

The problem for HYBE is that they have to prove that steps were actively taken to enact the plans being talked about. So, if they have proof of MHJ meeting with investors, and those investors can testify to talk of spinning Ador off or supporting some other venture of MHJ, then they've got her. Do they have it?
We have talk that she met with shamens, that she met with lawyers. Her discussions with the latter are privileged under law. I wouldn't be surprised if the former was as well. Catholic priests, for example, are under no legal obligation (in most countries) to disclose crimes revealed to them in confession, and in the contrary, have a religious obligation to keep such disclosures strictly private.

It's even harder to prove that MHJ was going to go public with her dispute, because that is something she could have done on short notice with no significant planning required.

So in other words, HYBE could be completely, 100% right, but be unable to prove it. And yet their statements are full of - in my mind - unearned confidence. I feel like they're opening themselves up to a defamation case tbh.

Secondly, and probably more critically, Ador have a pretty strong case for why the VP sold his stock at that time. Actual receipts.

Thirdly, as going public would harm both HYBE and Ador's valuation, it would also therefore harm MHJ's net worth. It seems strange that they would concoct a conspiracy that would financially benefit the VP and harm the CEO.

On your last point, I have no deference to the authorities (in this case, the Korean equivalent of the SEC). It is extremely obvious that HYBE do not have a strong case here when it comes to insider trading (their other stuff, idk). That doesn't mean that they won't still succeed. But their success does not mean that they were right either.

Edit:

"What is more serious than facial recognition impairment is situational awareness impairment."

Absolutely savage. I'm dead.

it's noteworthy that mhj's side has said nothing substantiable regarding the pe/ib meetings, but also it's another one of those situations that's going to be hard to prove unless the fss (I'm not familiar with their relative power) comes swinging with all their power

it's common for ib and pe firms to set up meetings and such with clients and targets to gauge their interest, and if they go out of their way revealing such sensitive info, they may as well be inviting all their existing clientele to leave because they have no discretion towards sensitive info

other than that, I think it's relvant to note how mhj's words have been so far consistent with again, her beattitude interview (march 2022), and the public timeline (all lsfm members joined source within a year of each other, less than two years from debut)

many on the international side for example thought she was pulling stuff out of the magician's hat when she said that the parents sided with her, and yet here we are; in the very least I find the mhj/ador/newjeans' side's consistency and backing of proof more credible than hybe for the current situation

again linking the interview threads below to see how open she was admitting to ador-source conflict

(Park Sanha) I’m surprised to hear you say that. It seems like you were going through more than I could have imagined.
Breaking through the inertia of an organization in order to achieve something is no easy feat, especially for one person. Not only is there the effort involved in a multi-pronged plan of action to persuade a company, your colleagues and the consumers on the road to achieving your goal, but even if you get it done, no matter how overwhelming the work seemed, sometimes those hardships quickly become taken for granted, which makes you feel like it was all in vain. And it’s ultimately the organization that is realigned and a never-before-seen system is created, which serves to give the company an opportunity to climb one step higher. Of course, the one who did all that work might feel a sense of accomplishment as an individual during the whole process, too. But I think I was a bit hurt during the process, through everything I experienced inside and out. It felt like all the credit went to the company and any fault was attached to my name as an individual. The longer I had to endure the hardship, the more I lost my enthusiasm and my heart hardened. That was one of the things that triggered my burnout and it had some impact on my decision to quit that job. I would’ve much preferred if there had never been any mention of my name at all … But, as I said in the previous interview, I regarded it all as the trials and tribulations of a director working in pop culture, so I got through it by living like an ascetic. Maybe I would’ve suffered less if I had put a little less of myself into my work, but I’m not that kind of person, so when the work felt more and more futile I was torn whether I should skip finding a new employer and walk away from the business altogether instead.

(Cha Woo-jin) HYBE set the direction of its business to satisfy customers by continuously improving its services. I think business is fundamentally value creation through problem solving. What kind of problems does the label ADOR try to solve?
I could write a whole thesis on that subject. It’s true that there is no industry without its share of problems. It is not easy to put such a weighty topic into simple words.It was also one of the reasons I formed my label, so it requires something of a long explanation, but if I had to summarize, I would say I have the will to courageously and actively seek a new way out and create an alternate exit by breaking free of the fixed routine that comes standard in the business (which sounds simple, but actually doing so in reality is a considerably difficult task). I share some things in common with HYBE chair Bang Si-hyuk, but we each have our own approach when we pursue goals. I ended up launching my label because of the necessity of that difference and because it had been acknowledged. And HYBE CEO Park Ji-won thought the same way. The more that mutually exclusive possibilities are given room to coexist within an organization, rather than having everyone look in the same direction, the higher the probability of success. I am well aware that, once an industry becomes sufficiently advanced, it can stagnate and become complacent with the existing, stable methods, but it’s also true that I no longer feel entirely excited about the current K-pop scene. You need just the right timing to make your new ideas and efforts become relevant. And I think that time is now.

Cha Woo-jin) I believe balance and tension are very important in the creative industry. A creative person should have both a sense of reality and the personality of a dreamer. How does the creator Min Hee-jin and the CEO Min Hee-jin define and control the correlation between balance and tension?
The only way I can explain is that I became a CEO because I wanted to exist as a creator. Those two roles have totally different characters and yet are intrinsically linked to each other. Any commercial creations which can not be converted into capital loses vitality. Similarly, I’ve witnessed numerous cases where the business was incongruous with the creative work and had difficulty achieving any major success. The moment your petty ego leads you to turn a blind eye to the fact that, in commercial terms, the creative work and the capital are inseparable, everything tends to go wrong.

(Harry Jun) ADOR’s upcoming girl group is predicted to be overseas K-pop fans’ favorite K-pop girl group to debut in 2022. Even before announcing the official members, fans are calling it “Min Hee-jin’s girl group.” It’s clear that expectations for you are pretty high. When will the secret about the girl group debuting this year be revealed?
We held auditions back in September 2019 and by the end of that year, we had completed not only the audition process but the casting as well. The girls have been in training for roughly the last two years, since the beginning of 2020. Initially, a collaborative project, the group was originally scheduled to launch in 2021, but that was postponed due to the pandemic, and in the meanwhile, my label launched ahead of schedule, so now they will make their first appearance under ADOR in 2022. They will present the direction I’ve had specific plans for a new girl group for a long time. I expect their launch to take place in the third quarter of the year.

There have been many unforeseen fluctuations on the business side, so it might have seemed confusing from the outside, too. Even though the girl group started as a collaborative project, they later became solely an ADOR group, so I’ve been in charge of ADOR’s whole girl group system since September 2021. And the first step was the training. The very first thing I did was to check their health and lifestyle, plus check the condition of the accomodations and the practice studio. And trainees usually have a hard time keeping up with school when they’re set to debut because there’s so much they have to do to prepare for it. But in reality, even if you didn’t like school when you had to be there, you might feel left out and like you’re missing something once you’re no longer able to attend. Because people tend to linger on the things they’re not able to experience… So I felt like I wanted to create, to the best of my ability, a substitute environment. I think the trainee life we provide is akin to a mini version of school life, so I feel they’re studying things at the label in place of what they would learn at school. The things we study are similar to subjects like music, art, history and language arts. To look at it another way, you could say the subjects they’re most interested in are more immersive now. They’re even able to develop relationships and social skills with their fellow trainees and their trainers. That’s why I always emphasize to all employees in our organization that they’re also role models.

BE(ATTITUDE) Interview: How Much Do You Know about Min Hee-jin? [part 1/2] - K-Pop Source — Keeping the K-Pop Forum Spirit Alive

Artist Project 04: Min Hee-jin Our fourth Artist Project interviewee is Min Hee-jin. Min Hee-jin has been working as Chief Brand Officer (CBO) for HYBE since 2019, and became CEO of ADOR, an independent label launched under the umbrella of HYBE, where she is leading the debut project of a girl...

kpopsource.com

BE(ATTITUDE) Interview: How Much Do You Know about Min Hee-jin? [part 2/2] - K-Pop Music, News, and Culture - KPOPSource.com

Part 2. A Rare Peek into Min Hee-jin’s World When the first part of the exclusive interview with Min Hee-jin—the leader in innovative K-pop branding and who is now leading HYBE’s independent label ADOR—went out, the editorial team at BeAttitude couldn’t believe their eyes. And not only because...

kpopsource.com

 

[catonkatonk]

it's noteworthy that mhj's side has said nothing substantiable regarding the pe/ib meetings, but also it's another one of those situations that's going to be hard to prove unless the fss (I'm not familiar with their relative power) comes swinging with all their power

it's common for ib and pe firms to set up meetings and such with clients and targets to gauge their interest, and if they go out of their way revealing such sensitive info, they may as well be inviting all their existing clientele to leave because they have no discretion towards sensitive info

other than that, I think it's relvant to note how mhj's words have been so far consistent with again, her beattitude interview (march 2022), and the public timeline (all lsfm members joined source within a year of each other, less than two years from debut)

many on the international side for example thought she was pulling stuff out of the magician's hat when she said that the parents sided with her, and yet here we are; in the very least I find the mhj/ador/newjeans' side's consistency and backing of proof more credible than hybe for the current situation

again linking the interview threads below to see how open she was admitting to ador-source conflict

BE(ATTITUDE) Interview: How Much Do You Know about Min Hee-jin? [part 1/2] - K-Pop Source — Keeping the K-Pop Forum Spirit Alive

Artist Project 04: Min Hee-jin Our fourth Artist Project interviewee is Min Hee-jin. Min Hee-jin has been working as Chief Brand Officer (CBO) for HYBE since 2019, and became CEO of ADOR, an independent label launched under the umbrella of HYBE, where she is leading the debut project of a girl...

kpopsource.com

BE(ATTITUDE) Interview: How Much Do You Know about Min Hee-jin? [part 2/2] - K-Pop Music, News, and Culture - KPOPSource.com

Part 2. A Rare Peek into Min Hee-jin’s World When the first part of the exclusive interview with Min Hee-jin—the leader in innovative K-pop branding and who is now leading HYBE’s independent label ADOR—went out, the editorial team at BeAttitude couldn’t believe their eyes. And not only because...

kpopsource.com

The timeline is confusing to me though, so maybe you can map it out in a more clear way?

Because there's a potential contradiction in her account based on when Ador was formed. MHJ claimed in her press conference that when Le Sserafim were announced for debut, there was doubt that NewJeans would be allowed to debut as well. The implication was that it was something she had to fight for on behalf of NewJeans' parents. But, if Ador had already existed by that point, then this wouldn't even have been in question, right? Like in the interview, she says that Ador's existence is an acknowledgement that HYBE is going to try contrasting approaches.

 

[mysteric]

The timeline is confusing to me though, so maybe you can map it out in a more clear way?

Because there's a potential contradiction in her account based on when Ador was formed. MHJ claimed in her press conference that when Le Sserafim were announced for debut, there was doubt that NewJeans would be allowed to debut as well. The implication was that it was something she had to fight for on behalf of NewJeans' parents. But, if Ador had already existed by that point, then this wouldn't even have been in question, right? Like in the interview, she says that Ador's existence is an acknowledgement that HYBE is going to try contrasting approaches.

in () unproved allegations, // my recollections of the time as someone who followed them fairly closely - I wasn't in the ari inner circle, but I am familiar with (using the fandom nicknames now) red hair girl, beijing dance girl, kim mijin, the newjeans coping (new genz anyone?), beetle, etc for proof of cred

2019:
jul 2019: mhj joins bighit as chief branding officer to pivot bighit into hybe, run a gg
sep 2019: first plus global audition call is posted, featuring minji -- plus global is the collaborative gg between source and mhj; members all casted by year end
2021:
(pgngg is meant to debut, dates unknown)
mar 2021: official confirmation that sakura and chaewon joined source
(parents are worried that newjeans' debut is in jeopardy because it implies either a) they're scrapping newjeans and creating a sakura-chaewon focused group in source or b) newjeans gets to debut but with the obvious wait times between debuts, it's a bad sign; this was not communicated to them in any capacity by hybe/source/people of similar positions within the company)
(mhj is upset because she had her group ready, and she reportedly only learnt of the news through the news cycle and not from source/hybe)
/ during this period there's confusion within the pgngg fandom because sakura doesn't seem like mhj's muse type /
aug 2021: yunjin is confirmed to have joined source
nov 2021: ador is announced
2022:
/ there is still general confusion at this point if the sakura gg is the mhj gg so heavily advertised /
mar 2022: mhj does youquiz, her first tv appearance (to clear up confusion that sakura gg is not her gg) and beattitude, where she confirms that there have been at least disagreements leading to the formation of ador, and that she took her staff and members and work with her to ador
apr 2022: le sserafim announced
may 2022: le sserafim debut
(mhj was reportedly promised that she would be in charge of hybe's first gg, lsfm debut break that promise)
july 2022: newjeans debut
i'll add more, but quickest overview i can remember at the moment

edit: gen trainee lore, some date fixes
2021:
sometime in 2021: eunchae and garam join source
jul 2021: hanni and minji appear in permisison to dance mv / then known as cherry and minji /
/ also I forgot when it started, but by 2021 it was a fandom open secret that ryu hanbi was locked in the group, the belief lasted until she wasn't in the attention mv lol, her mom interacted quite often w mhj /
dec 2021: kazuha joins source, with the intention that she will debut in le sserafim
(remember: newjeans was set to debut in 2022)
2022:
/ ~feb 2022: rumors start floating around of a sopa dancer being in newjeans/
/ apr 2022: dc gall has a list of 5 trainees up as members, only minji was right lmao but also rumors of a june announcement and spain filming /

edit 2: 2021 rehash
2021:
(pgngg is meant to debut, dates unknown)
sep 2021: rumors start in the news cycle that sakura signed to source
(parents are worried that newjeans' debut is in jeopardy because it implies either a) they're scrapping newjeans and creating a sakura-chaewon focused group in source or b) newjeans gets to debut but with the obvious wait times between debuts, it's a bad sign; this was not communicated to them in any capacity by hybe/source/people of similar positions within the company)
(mhj is upset because she had her group ready, and she reportedly only learnt of the news through the news cycle and not from source/hybe)
/ during this period there's confusion within the pgngg fandom because sakura doesn't seem like mhj's muse type /
aug 2021: yunjin is confirmed to have joined source
nov 2021: ador is announced

 

[RandAlThor]

moves and contermoves lol

lol i rewatched catching fire this weekend. Phil was so good the put him to work after he was dead.

 

[RandAlThor]

in () unproved allegations, // my recollections of the time as someone who followed them fairly closely - I wasn't in the ari inner circle, but I am familiar with (using the fandom nicknames now) red hair girl, beijing dance girl, kim mijin, the newjeans coping (new genz anyone?), beetle, etc for proof of cred


2021:
(pgngg is meant to debut, dates unknown)
mar 2021: official confirmation that sakura and chaewon joined source
(parents are worried that newjeans' debut is in jeopardy because it implies either a) they're scrapping newjeans and creating a sakura-chaewon focused group in source or b) newjeans gets to debut but with the obvious wait times between debuts, it's a bad sign; this was not communicated to them in any capacity by hybe/source/people of similar positions within the company)

You sure about the march 2021 date?
Sakura was still under contract to izone's korean company, and her Japanese agency. there was buzz about hybe as i remember but nothing was confirmed until after she came back from Japan. Not the least because she wanted to milk the last dollar out of her Wotta fans one more time.
Chaewon was still under contract to Woollim. Even when she did join source she has said she had no idea Sakura was there.

Clearly there was a pissing match and one side wanted a ssera type group with Sakura and mjh appears to have had less than zero interest in her.

Getting Sakura / Chaewon back into the market was time critical not the least because of Sakura/Chaewon being 24/22 by mid 2022.

Once she decided to not take Sakura she had to know the clock was ticking.

 

[RandAlThor]

The stock thing.
Regardless of the dispute over context. They were discussing actions that could drive the stock lower near term.
If the officers sale was not scheduled prior to any of those discussions its totally suspect. no matter what it was used for. aside for emergency personal expense's like a family death. But to pay rent .. please.

Hybe did drop the audit info but if they were fomenting rebellion/ect that could have been expected.

 

[Abeamus]

apparently he suffers from facial recognition blindness or at least that's the claim lol

Well I'd believe that if he or BTS have at least alluded to something like that before like BTS saying he'd greet someone with the wrong name or something otherwise that's way too convenient. Assuming it's true though then shouldn't he just be greeting people anyway? Especially a group of 5 people since in an environment like Hybe are 5 people on the office side really walking around that often that you wouldn't believe it's one of your idol groups?

 

[RandAlThor]

Well I'd believe that if he or BTS have at least alluded to something like that before like BTS saying he'd greet someone with the wrong name or something otherwise that's way too convenient. Assuming it's true though then shouldn't he just be greeting people anyway? Especially a group of 5 people since in an environment like Hybe are 5 people on the office side really walking around that often that you wouldn't believe it's one of your idol groups?

It is sketchy and would be a fairly large disadvantage in the idol business.
You would think he would have a personal assistant with him at all times like a politician for that exact reason.
Its not like they remember all the ppl they great by name.
Once you reach a certain level of fame ppl always remember your encounters especially when they are trivial and completely unimportant to you.
Great politicians and business ppl pay folks to keep track of that stuff.

 

[Abeamus]

It is sketchy and would be a fairly large disadvantage in the idol business.
You would think he would have a personal assistant with him at all times like a politician for that exact reason.
Its not like they remember all the ppl they great by name.
Once you reach a certain level of fame ppl always remember your encounters especially when they are trivial and completely unimportant to you.
Great politicians and business ppl pay folks to keep track of that stuff.

Yeah especially with someone like Bang PD where it's not like he's meeting dedicating fans and it's just people who he employs so he just needs to greet them and having a personal assistant at his level seems pretty normal I would have thought.

 

[mysteric]

You sure about the march 2021 date?
Sakura was still under contract to izone's korean company, and her Japanese agency. there was buzz about hybe as i remember but nothing was confirmed until after she came back from Japan. Not the least because she wanted to milk the last dollar out of her Wotta fans one more time.
Chaewon was still under contract to Woollim. Even when she did join source she has said she had no idea Sakura was there.

Clearly there was a pissing match and one side wanted a ssera type group with Sakura and mjh appears to have had less than zero interest in her.

Getting Sakura / Chaewon back into the market was time critical not the least because of Sakura/Chaewon being 24/22 by mid 2022.

Once she decided to not take Sakura she had to know the clock was ticking.

sorry, got my dates mixed up there
the reports came in sep 21 but the source announcement came mar 22, I've corrected it in the post

 

[catonkatonk]

The stock thing.
Regardless of the dispute over context. They were discussing actions that could drive the stock lower near term.
If the officers sale was not scheduled prior to any of those discussions its totally suspect. no matter what it was used for. aside for emergency personal expense's like a family death. But to pay rent .. please.

Strong disagree here.

Firstly, it isn't "rent" as far as I can tell but a down payment, or a deposit. IE, it is not a regular monthly expense, but a one-off expense that would have to be fortuitously timed as an alibi. Totally inconceivable.

Secondly, the "insider information", according to HYBE, is their intention to make public a dispute. I made a whole post about the difficulty in proving this intention, but let's be concrete about it:
From HYBE's statement:

Vice-CEO L said, “If we go to trial, the stock price will go down, so minority shareholders will say things like they want to file a lawsuit…” HYBE claims that he once said, “Hive will suffer as a listed company if these types of people join him.” He also mentioned on April 18, “Fair Trade Commission -> Public Opinion -> Litigation,” and said, “The way to avoid getting blood on your hands is Fair Trade Commission -> Spill on reporters -> Stock prices plummet -> Make minority shareholders file lawsuits.”

The problem: Ador did not report anything to the Fair Trade Commission. And still hasn't.
It could be argued that the idea was just floated. Many ideas get floated. It doesn't even need to have been explicitly rejected. The question is, were steps taken in the direction of the plan?
I can't attack someone in self-defence just because they told another person that they were going to punch me. They have to take the swing.
I once had a boss say to me, "If you do X, I will kill you." Literally their exact words, and it was genuinely meant to deter me from doing X, and it was genuinely said out of anger. That doesn't mean I can report them for attempted murder. Now, if they went and bought a gun, then maybe.

 

[mysteric]

Strong disagree here.

Firstly, it isn't "rent" as far as I can tell but a down payment, or a deposit. IE, it is not a regular monthly expense, but a one-off expense that would have to be fortuitously timed as an alibi. Totally inconceivable.

Secondly, the "insider information", according to HYBE, is their intention to make public a dispute. I made a whole post about the difficulty in proving this intention, but let's be concrete about it:
From HYBE's statement:

The problem: Ador did not report anything to the Fair Trade Commission. And still hasn't.
It could be argued that the idea was just floated. Many ideas get floated. It doesn't even need to have been explicitly rejected. The question is, were steps taken in the direction of the plan?
I can't attack someone in self-defence just because they told another person that they were going to punch me. They have to take the swing.
I once had a boss say to me, "If you do X, I will kill you." Literally their exact words, and it was genuinely meant to deter me from doing X, and it was genuinely said out of anger. That doesn't mean I can report them for attempted murder. Now, if they went and bought a gun, then maybe.

I think the crux of the issue is why the audit was made public in the first place
defensive measures can be taken, and aggressive ones at that too (see: mannesmann on vodafone is an s-tier example of that, though it ultimately failed), but apart from stirring up public opinion and maybe plant some seeds of shareholder doubt against mhj/ador, it had very little actual function