On 25th November 2013, Korean media outlet Sports Seoul reported that TVXQ, 'the kings of Hallyu' in their 9-year career made a revenue of 1.3 trillion WON (approximately $1.1 billion USD) which makes them the highest-earning Korean act.

The duo entered military service in 2015 and discharged in 2017. 2 years of career break couldn't stop them!

On 22th February 2018, another Korean media outlet Cidermics reported that TVXQ made over 2 trillion WON (approximarely $1.8 billion USD) in their career. Considering their activities after February in Japan and Korea , they have reached a revenue of $2 billion USD.

Since most of SM Entertainment acts tend to keep their earnings and don't talk about it, seems like K-netizens decided to go into details about their revenue since 2013 and revealed that TVXQ made more money than other entertainment companies and the rest of SM Entertainment.

Here are the details!

2013 Annual Revenue

SM $256M

YG $114M

JYP $74M

TVXQ $191M

(TVXQ 75%, SM 25%)

Active SM acts in 2013(16 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, SNSD, f(x), Sungmin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Henry, Sooyoung, Seuhyun, Yoona, Minho, Taemin, Krystal

Japan tour ~$110M (source: naver, wikipedia)

World tour ~$37M (source: naver)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$39M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$5 (wikipedia)

2014 Annual Revenue

SM $269M

YG $146M

JYP $45M

TVXQ $181M (TVXQ 67% SM 33%)

Active SM acts in 2014(21 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, SNSD, f(x), Sungmin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Donghae, Henry, Zhoumi, BoA, Sunny, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Minho, Victoria, Krystal, D.O, Seulgi

Japan tour ~$102M (source: hakuhodo)

World Tour ~$23M (source: naver)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$9M (source: hanteo)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$40M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$7M

2015 Annual Revenue (TVXQ are active in half of the year due to military service)

SM $288M

YG $166M

JYP $43M

TVXQ $183M

(TVXQ 63.5% SM 36.5%)

Active SM acts in 2015(26 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, SNSD, f(x), Red Velvet, Leeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Siwon, BoA, Taeyeon, Seohyun, Yoona, Minho, Victoria, Amber, Luna, Suho, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Joy, Seulgi

Japan tour ~$124M (source: hakuhodo)

Asia tour ~$25M (source: naver, wikipedia)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$3M (source: hanteo)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$27M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$4M

2016 Annual Revenue (TVXQ are inactive due to military service)

SM $299M

YG $275M

JYP $62M

SHINee $89M (SHINee 27% SM 73%)

Active SM acts in 2016(42 acts): SHINee, SNSD, EXO, f(x) Red Velvet, EXO CBX, NCT, Kangta, Kim Jungmo, Jay, Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Siwon, Henry, Zhoumi, BoA, Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Yoona, Onew, Key, Jonghyun, Taemin, Victoria, Amber, Krystal, Loona, Suho, Lay, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Joy, Irene

SHINee (SHINee is the highest earning act of SM in 2016)

Japan tour ~$63M (source: wikipedia)

World tour ~$20M

Korean album, single, DVD sales ~$2M

Japanese album, single, DVD sales ~$1M

Fanmeeting ~$3

+TVXQ film concerts ~$21M

2017 Annual Revenue (TVXQ are active in half of the year due to military service)

SM $350M

YG $324M

JYP $94M

TVXQ $156M (TVXQ 44.5% SM 55.5%)

Active SM acts in 2017(34 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, EXO-CBX, Red Velvet, NCT, Kangta, Jay, Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Henry, BoA, Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Yuna, Onew, Key, Minho, Taemin, Viktoria, Krystal, Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Chanyeol, D.O, Kai, Joy

Japan tour ~$97M (source: nikkei)

Asia tour ~$13M (source: wikipedia)

Film concerts ~$27M (source: wikipedia)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$1M (source: hanteo)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$15M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$3M

2018 1st Half Revenue

SM $303M

YG $187M

JYP $105M

TVXQ $182M (TVXQ 60% SM 40%)

Japan tour ~$122M (source: dispatch)

Asia tour ~$24M (source: wikipedia)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$4M (source: oricon)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$19M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$13M (source: wikipedia)

Some netizens stated, "SM is nothing without TVXQ.", "TVXQ earns more than Japanese acts.", "SM wouldn't be a part of Big 3 without TVXQ."

Also a netizen posted this picture:

"TVXQ bring in the most income in SM, one tour roughly brings in $100 million USD"

Overall since 2013

SM $1.765B USD (including TVXQ)

YG $1.212B USD

JYP $423M USD

TVXQ $955M USD

Note that TVXQ wasn't active for 2 years! When the duo was fully active, they surpassed each company in revenue and only musical activities were counted.