HYBE founder, 'Squid Game' director named on 'The Bloomberg 50' list

HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk [HYBE]

HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk and the director of hit Netflix series "Squid Game" Hwang Dong-hyuk were named on “The Bloomberg 50” of 2021 by Bloomberg Businessweek.

The publication annually selects 50 people who led the global trends in business, entertainment, finance, politics and science and technology.

Bloomberg defined Bang as “the hitmaker behind BTS [who] engineered a $1 billion deal in April to combine Ithaca Holdings — the agency that manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande — with his Korean empire, bringing K-pop to the center of the U.S. music business."

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk [NETFLIX]

It dubbed Hwang as the “brain” behind “Squid Game,” explaining that the series became the most popular drama in Netflix history as it was watched by 140 million people worldwide, setting an unprecedented example for a Korean drama to garner an immediate reaction around the world.

According to Netflix's internal data obtained by Bloomberg, the production cost of “Squid Game” was $21 million, and it is estimated to have generated profit of $900 million.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]