Monica Chin

Hybe — the parent company of BTS — has become the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment, the Korean entertainment giant widely credited as a major player in the worldwide popularity of K-Pop today. This has the potential to create an unprecedented monopoly in the K-Pop space, and is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) deals in the history of the industry.
“With our collaborative effort, we can become the most innovative game changer in the global music industry,” Hybe CEO Park Jiwon wrote in an open letter.

The company behind the modular Framework Laptop will begin selling refurbished models of its devices in the EU as part of its Framework Refurbished program. The company will also sell a 12th-Gen model of its DIY Edition in the US and Canada. Don’t worry: Framework assures us that refurbished models “go through a rigorous cleaning and testing process” prior to sale.