ADOR, the agency behind the K-pop girl group NewJeans, has reported a remarkable financial performance for 2023 despite an ongoing legal battle with HYBE Corporation.
ADOR’s revenue for 2023 skyrocketed to a staggering 110.3 billion won ($80 million), a more than fivefold increase over the previous year’s 19 billion won ($13.8 million), according to the Financial Supervisory Service’s Electronic Disclosure System. The jump in operating profit is even more impressive as it rose from a loss of 4 billion won ($2.9 million) in 2022 to a substantial 33.5 billion won ($24.3 million) in 2023.
Even after deducting expenses and taxes, ADOR’s net profit for the year remains impressive at 26.5 billion won ($19.2 million).
ADOR’s financial success appears to be largely driven by the immense popularity of NewJeans. Reports suggest that the agency distributed a total of 26.1 billion won ($19 million) to the group’s members. While the exact breakdown isn’t publicly available, estimates based on agency fees suggest that each NewJeans member might have received around 5.2 billion won ($3.8 million).
Looking at the broader HYBE landscape, ADOR has emerged as the third-highest-grossing label among the corporation’s 11 subsidiaries.
Big Hit Music, home to global superstars BTS and TXT, remains the top earner with a revenue of 552.3 billion won ($401 million). Pledis Entertainment, which manages the popular group SEVENTEEN and other artists like fromis_9, follows in second place with a revenue of 327.2 billion won ($238 million).
BELIFT LAB, the agency behind the group ILLIT, recorded a revenue of 27.3 billion won ($20 million). It’s worth noting that girl group ILLIT has been at the center of controversy surrounding its alleged similarities to ADOR’s girl group NewJeans.
>> HYBE to Sue ADOR CEO Over Alleged Breach of Trust Following “Project 1945” Discovery
Source (1)
