[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] It has been revealed that the agency of Ho-joong Kim, who recently caused a social stir with a drunk driving hit-and-run accident, has accumulated considerable wealth.

According to the audit report of the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 26th, Kim Ho-joong's agency, Saenggak Entertainment, is known to have expanded thanks to Kim Ho-joong's activities last year. Sales last year decreased by 26.6% from 25.6 billion won the previous year to 18.8 billion won, but operating profit increased by 1 billion won from 2.4 billion won in 2022 to 3.4 billion won last year. Net profit more than doubled from 1.4 billion won to 3.3 billion won. As of the end of last year, retained earnings amounted to 11.6 billion won.

As of 2023, 2.37 billion won was spent on employee salaries, 1.63 billion won on entertainment expenses, 2.53 billion won on advertising and publicity expenses, and 0 won on donations.

Thought Entertainment was launched in 2018 with CEO Lee Kwang-deuk (SBS 9th open recruitment comedian), Director Choi Jae-ho, and comedian Jung Chan-woo each investing one-third. Afterwards, Kakao Entertainment acquired 5% of CEO Lee Kwang-deuk’s and Jung Chan-woo’s stakes (totaling 10%), and last year, SBS Medianet acquired 3.6% of Director Choi Jae-ho’s stake. Director Choi Jae-ho thus became the largest shareholder with a 29.7% stake, while CEO Lee Kwang-deuk (28.4%) and comedian Jung Chan-woo (28.3%) also own shares. 

SBS Medianet has a close relationship with Saenggak Entertainment and has been hosting various concerts. It is known that the value of Saenggak Entertainment was set at around 100 billion won at the time of the stock acquisition.

According to the audit report, the appraised value of Saenggang Enter's office building in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, Seoul is approximately KRW 7.6 billion, including the land (KRW 3.45 billion) and the building (KRW 4.17 billion).

Last year, Saenggak Enter recorded 13.6 billion won in service sales costs. Saenggak Enter has many trot singers under its wing, including Kim Ho-joong, the winner of 'Mr. Trot 2' Ahn Sung-hoon, the runner-up of 'Miss Trot 2' Hong Ji-yoon, as well as Geum Jan-di, Yeong-gi, Jeong Da-kyung, and Kang Ye-seul. Actors Son Ho-jun, Kim Kwang-gyu, Moon Hee-kyung, comedians Heo Kyung-hwan and Hong Rok-gi, former soccer player Lee Dong-gook, and former baseball player Bong Joon-geun are also under Saenggak Enter. 

Lim Young-woong's agency, Fish Music, had sales of 36.1 billion won last year, operating profit of 11.4 billion won, and net profit of 8.5 billion won. Sales increased by 1.1%, but operating profit and net profit decreased by 10.2% and 11.5%, respectively. It is known that Lim Young-woong earned about 23.4 billion won from Fish Music last year. Fish Music was established in 2015, and Lim Young-woong is currently the only celebrity affiliated with the company. CEO Shin Jung-hoon and two others own 50% of the shares, and Lim Young-woong owns 50%. Lim Young-woong is the largest shareholder.