[Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@]
US magazine Forbes has placed South Korea's popular hip-hop group Big Bang among the world's 30 highest-paid celebrities under 30 this year.
Big Bang was ranked 13th by taking home 44 million US dollars in pretax earnings over the past year, higher than American all-male arena pop group, Maroon 5, Forbes said.
In a commentary, Forbes staff Zack O'Malley Greenburg attributed Big Gang's success to the popularity of music than the depth of the group's business savvy.
"We made more than Maroon 5?" Big Bang's front man, Kwon "G-Dragon" Jiyong, 27, was quoted as saying. "Did not know that. My mom is in charge of my earnings."
Fortunately, the group's finances are being guided by much more than a mommy manager, Forbes said, adding the real force behind Bigbang is former K-Pop idol Yang Hyun Suk and his namesake company.
"The company and its founder are responsible for creating not only Bigbang but also, to a great extent, the modern K-Pop movement, which is in the midst of a transformation from regional staple to international craze," it said.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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