Scooter Braun resigned from HYBE‘s board of directors – but he is not walking away entirely.
Braun‘s exit was disclosed in a regulatory filing published on South Korea’s DART disclosure system, with an effective date March 30.
The K-pop giant confirmed to MBW that Braun will continue to work with the company in an advisory capacity following his departure from the board.
HYBE told MBW it is exploring possible areas for future collaboration with Braun, citing the trust the two have built.
Braun‘s absence from the board is confirmed by HYBE‘s Q1 2026 quarterly report, filed on DART on Friday, May 15, which lists the company’s current directors as of March 31.
Braun does not appear on the roster.
A separate large shareholding report, also filed on DART, shows that Braun is no longer listed as a special related party to Chairman Bang Si-hyuk‘s shareholder group.
The filing previously included Braun’s 362,292 voting shares and 137,560 in other securities as part of Bang’s shareholder bloc – his holdings now show as zero.
That does not necessarily mean the shares have been sold or transferred – only that they are no longer reported as part of Bang‘s bloc following the dissolution of the special relationship.
Asked about his shareholding, HYBE said it was unable to confirm details of any changes to individual shareholdings.
Braun‘s board exit marks the final step in a gradual withdrawal from the company he joined in 2021, when HYBE acquired his Ithaca Holdings for $1.05 billion.
That deal brought SB Projects, Big Machine Label Group, and a roster including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande under HYBE‘s umbrella – and placed Braun on the company’s board.
He subsequently became CEO of HYBE America, leading the division’s $300 million acquisition of Quality Control in 2023.
In June 2024, Braun announced his retirement from artist management after 23 years, saying he would focus on his role at HYBE America.
But in July 2025, he stepped down as CEO of HYBE America, handing day-to-day operations to Isaac Lee while remaining on the board as a Senior Advisor.
At the time, HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk called Braun “an extraordinary partner, a visionary executive, and a true catalyst for cultural exchange.”
Now, less than a year later, Braun no longer holds a board seat or any formal executive role at HYBE.
Braun‘s departure from the board comes amid a broader restructuring of HYBE‘s US operations under Isaac Lee, who was appointed Chairman and CEO of HYBE America last July.
Lee, the former Univision and Televisa executive, was appointed to lead the HYBE America division in July 2025, in addition to his existing role as Chairman of HYBE Latin America, giving the exec broader oversight of the Americas for the entertainment giant.
In February, Scott Borchetta exited HYBE America, with the Nashville operation rebranded as Blue Highway Records.
Within a day of the Braun filing, HYBE disclosed a separate regulatory filing showing a $100 million capital injection into HYBE America – approved by the board on March 31 – to support the subsidiary’s operations.
A filing also confirmed that Isaac Lee and Kevin Mayer (the former CEO of TikTok and current Co-CEO of Candle Media) had been appointed to HYBE’s board for three-year terms at the company’s annual general meeting on March 31.
Lee joined as an inside director and Mayer as a non-executive director, according to HYBE‘s quarterly report.
The large shareholding filing also disclosed that Bang Si-hyuk donated 711,534 shares on March 31, reducing his personal holding from 13.15 million to 12.44 million shares.
A separate DART filing confirmed that 546,120 of those shares were donated to HYBE for use as employee stock compensation.
On Tuesday May 19, HYBE disclosed that Bang had agreed to donate a further 192,126 shares to the company for the same purpose.
Bang‘s combined stake – including shares held by special related parties Netmarble and Dunamu under shareholder agreements – was 41.06% as of May. He remains HYBE‘s largest shareholder.Music Business Worldwide