According to SisaJournalau, after his military discharge, in 2019, Kim Soo Hyun moved to the newly established entertainment company Gold Medalist - where he had a connection with the actor's relatives.
On paper, this company is 100% owned by bareun No.2 Investment Association. However, there is a source saying that the real operator of Gold Medalist is Kim Soo Hyun's brother - Lee Ro Be.
A source said that Kim Soo Hyun owns a portion of the shares, but he mainly plays the role of a key actor in the company, while Lee Ro Be supervises most of the management activities.
After Kim Soo Hyun, Gold Medalist recruited Seo Ye Ji and the late actor Kim Sae Ron to work in the artist management business segment. The company later signed contracts with Choi Hyun Wook, Lee Chae Min, Seol In Ah, Kim Si Eun, Lee Jong Hyun...
However, the legality of bareun No..2 is being questioned. The company not only owns Gold Medalist but also controls an online education company listed on KOSDAQ, which is currently being investigated by the police and tax authorities for stock manipulation and tax evasion, although the company has denied it.
In addition, bareun No. 2's registered headquarters turned out to be a modest 3-storey building in Jangwi-dong, Seoul. Second, it is said to be the company's office, which is actually a medical equipment company, with no signpointing the presence of a multi-billion- won entertainment company.
What is even more worrying is the profit payment (commission) that Gold Medalist pays to its artists. The audit report shows that from 2020 to 2024, the total amount paid to artists under the company will only reach 670 million won.
This is a skeptical number when considering industry standards, with 80-90% of revenue usually belonging to actors.
This difference is even more evident in 2024, the year when Kim Soo Hyun's drama "Queen of Tears" became a phenomenon with a record rating on tvN. The media noted that the film promoted the "5th Hallyu Wave".
Kim Soo Hyun has signed advertising contracts with 16 brands, including Prada, Homeplus, Eider. Gold Medalist also reported a record annual revenue of over 20 billion won, but only 2.7 billion won were recorded as artist payment costs.
When compared to other companies, Gold Medalist is even more skeptical. EDAM Entertainment (IU's management company) paid 33.6 billion won to artists in 2024, with the success of the drama "When Life Is for You as a Tangerine" starring IU.
ADOR's management company of the group NewJeans has shared profits of 29 billion won and 23.8 billion won with artists over the past 2 years.
Hook Entertainment ( Lee Seung Gi's former management company) has paid 79% of its commissions to artists over the past 4 years, despite the company continuously recording net losses.
In the case of Gold Medalist, there were years when the cost of meetings and entertainment even exceeded the amount paid to their own artists.
Gold Medalist explained that the details of the profit sharing agreement were personal information, so they were not disclosed.
In addition, the company's payments to artists are also listed in the service revenue cost, and it is unreasonable to confirm payments based only on the "commission payment" line in financial reports.
However, many experts are still skeptical, because most companies publicly disclose payment data through audits, but Gold Medalist is very unusual.
