Zooil Yang — Courtesy of Weverse
The HYBE-owned company Weverse Company announced on May 27 that Zooil Yang will become the company’s new president effective June 1.
Yang previously led AXZ, a Kakao spinoff that operates South Korea’s Daum portal, among the nation’s oldest and most widely used internet platforms.
South Korean AI startup Upstage completed its acquisition of AXZ from Kakao earlier this month. With Daum separating from its parent company, the move created an opportunity for Yang to take on a new role.
Earlier in his career, he served as CEO at NHN Ticketlink, NHN Bugs and NHN Travel Doctor. He later held leadership roles at Kakao and its blockchain subsidiary, Ground X.
Weverse Company said the appointment “is part of Weverse’s growth strategy to further enhance its services and strengthen business execution as the company enters its next phase of growth as a leading superfan platform.”
The company added that Yang‘s “experience across diverse IT sectors is expected to support the company’s continued growth and strengthen its execution capabilities.”
Yang‘s background spans platform operations, content services, digital commerce, and music streaming, all relevant to Weverse’s multi-service superfan platform.
Yang succeeds Joon Choi, who told MBW in January 2025 that “the potential for growth in the superfan business is limitless.”
The leadership change comes at a pivotal time for Weverse as the superfan business continues to evolve and expand rapidly.
Since launching in 2019, Weverse has grown to about 180 artist communities and surpassed 155 million cumulative lifetime downloads, reaching users across 245 countries and regions.
The platform gained traction in 2025, with HYBE reporting an increase of more than 2 million monthly active users between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, now reaching 13.37 million users.
The platform introduced Listening Party in March 2025, a Spotify-powered in-app feature that lets artists and fans stream curated playlists together in real time, with HYBE indicating Apple Music integration would follow.
Weverse hosts superfan communities for artists including BTS, SEVENTEEN and BLACKPINK, as well as a growing number of non-K-pop acts such as Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa and Gracie Abrams.
By stepping into the CEO role, Yang takes over a company “that sits at the center of one of the most closely watched commercial opportunities in the music industry,” as reported by MBW.
Goldman Sachs’ 2025 “Music in the Air” report estimated the superfan monetization opportunity at $4.3 billion annually based on 2026 projections.
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