Hitman Bang

I. Introduction

Bang Si-hyuk, known professionally as "Hitman" Bang, is a South Korean lyricist, composer, producer, and record executive. He is the founder of Big Hit Music (formerly Big Hit Entertainment) and Hybe Corporation, and chairman of the latter.

II. Career

Bang debuted as a composer while in college. He met Park Jin-young during the mid-1990s, and the pair often partnered together as a songwriting duo. When Park founded his company JYP Entertainment, Bang joined him as a composer, arranger and producer. One of their early successes was the first-generation group g.o.d. They were largely responsible for the production of g.o.d's debut album Chapter 1, with Park serving as the producer and primary songwriter while Bang arranged the instrumentation and music. Some of g.o.d's most famous songs arranged by Bang include "One Candle" and "Road". Bang's stage name "Hitman" originated from this period, when g.o.d enjoyed success as one of the country's best-selling and most popular boy bands of the early 2000s, earning himself and Park the reputation as "hit makers". Besides g.o.d, Bang has also produced or composed for artists such as veterans Im Chang-jung and Park Ji-yoon, singer-actor Rain, groups Wonder Girls, 2AM and Teen Top, R&B singer Baek Ji-young, and many others.

In 2005, Bang left JYP Entertainment and founded his own company, Big Hit Entertainment, where he continued to write, compose and produce for Big Hit artists—he co-wrote six songs on BTS' critically acclaimed Wings (2016) album. The success of Wings garnered Bang the Best Producer Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and the Songwriter Award at the Melon Music Awards that year. In June 2018, he was named one of Variety's International Music Leaders due to BTS' achievements.

In April 2019, Bloomberg estimated Bang's worth to be about $770 million. The BigHit IPO filed in October 2020 was the largest seen in South Korea in three years and skyrocketed Bang's net worth to $2.8 billion, making him the only billionaire in South Korea's entertainment industry and the sixth-richest person in the country. The success of the IPO, together with the commercial success of BTS that year, Bang's steps into diversification with apps like Weverse, and acquisitions of companies like Source Music and Pledis Entertainment among others, landed him on the 2020 edition of Variety's Variety500, an annual index of the 500 most influential business leaders in the global media industry.

In June 2021, Forbes Asia published its annual list of Korea's 50 Richest People. One of only two newcomers to the ranking, Bang was listed as the 16th richest person in South Korea. On July 1, following an organizational restructuring, Hybe Corporation announced Bang's resignation as CEO of the company to return his focus to music production. He was replaced by Park Ji-won, but retained his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bang is worth an estimated $3.2 billion as of July 2021.

III. Production Discography

IV. Awards