HYBE, Pinkfong listed on TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies

HYBE Entertainment's founder Bang Si-hyuk, center, poses with BTS members on the cover of TIME magazine. Captured from TIME Instagram

By Lee Gyu-lee

HYBE Entertainment, which houses K-pop star BTS, and The Pinkfong Company, which created the popular children's song “Baby Shark,” have made it onto the list of the 100 Most Influential Companies by TIME magazine in the U.S.

The magazine released this year's list, Wednesday (local time), and called HYBE “the pop powerhouse,” saying the entertainment company and its founder Bang Si-hyuk are “transforming the music business.”

This is the second year in a row the entertainment company has been selected for the list.

Founded in 2005 under the name Big Hit Entertainment by musical mastermind Bang, the company went public on the KOSPI in 2020 and is now valued at $9.5 billion.

“HYBE's vision has always been ambitious ― to the point of being presumptuous,” Bang was quoted as saying by the magazine. “Our vision is to become the world's leading entertainment lifestyle platform, with music as our foundation.”

The Pinkfong Company was listed on TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022. Courtesy of The Pinkfong Company

Pinkfong is an entertainment company that creates education and entertainment content for children. The video for the “Baby Shark” song turned into a global sensation upon its release on YouTube, becoming the first video to exceed 10 billion views on the platform.

“Since founding in 2010, Pinkfong has made new records in the global content industry with the intellectual property for 'Baby Shark,'” the company said in a release, Thursday. ”The Pinkfong Company will continue to offer a unique enjoyment across borders, platforms and industries as a global family entertainment company.”