Bang Si-hyuk, Hwang Dong-hyuk join Bloomberg 50

Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, a producer of global K-pop star BTS, and Netflix’s “Squid Game” director Hwang Dong-hyuk joined this year’s Bloomberg 50, according to the Bloomberg Businessweek on Wednesday (local time). Every year, it selects the best 50 out of figures, organizations and ideas across the globe, which are believed to lead global trends in business, entertainment, finance, politics, and scientific technology.

Bloomberg assessed that Chairman Bang, a hitmaker who produced BTS, brought K-pop at the center of U.S. music business by acquiring Ithaca Holdings LLC, a U.S.-based agency which works with Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, in April.

Director Hwang was commended as the brain of “Squid Game,” which created a sensational mega hit as an unprecedented K-drama in the global market, wrote Bloomberg. He spent 21 million U.S. dollars producing “Squid Game,” which has presumably raked in more than 900 million dollars to date, based on internal materials acquired from Netflix by Bloomberg.

Dr. Lee Hoe-sung, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was selected as part of this year’s Bloomberg as well in recognition of helping make out the 6th climate change assessment report in August.

Added to this, Bloomberg selected CVS Health CEO Karen S. Lynch, who is at the forefronts of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination campaign, metaverse business Roblox CEO David Baszucki and others. Eugene Goodman, a police officer at the U.S. Congress, shared an honor granted by Bloomberg as he fought against supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump who rioted and rushed into the congressional building in January.


imi@donga.com