[비즈한국] The CEO currently receiving the most attention in the beauty industry is undoubtedly Kim Byung-hoon, CEO of APR278470. He took a small startup that began with 50 million won in seed funding to a KOSPI listing, and recently, the company has even surpassed the market capitalization of LG Household & Health Care051900, drawing significant interest. CEO Kim Byung-hoon is even trailed by the moniker "30-something beauty tycoon."
Character
Born in Seoul on November 5, 1988. He entered the Department of Business Administration at Yonsei University in 2007, but began his business while enrolled and did not graduate. However, he continues to attend school events such as the Yonsei University College of Commerce and Business Alumni Association and alumni mentoring programs.
CEO Kim developed his determination to start a business when his father lost his job during his high school years. Hearing that his father was laid off due to corporate politics rather than a lack of competence, CEO Kim decided he would build an organization where ability is the top priority, and this resolution became the driving force behind his entrepreneurship.
He is known as a workaholic and enjoys sports like swimming and cycling. His MBTI is ESTJ.
Career
Through an experience as an exchange student in the U.S. in 2009 while still in university, he became interested in the internet and mobile industries. Afterward, he entered the startup market by launching services such as the virtual fitting service 'Ipida,' the dating brokerage app 'Gilhanasai,' and the meeting arrangement app 'Miss & Mister.'
In 2014, he co-founded the cosmetics company Inoventures (now APR) with co-CEO Lee Joo-kwang (who resigned in 2019), whom he met at a startup gathering. CEO Kim was twenty-five years old at the time. In 2016, he launched the cosmetics brand 'Medicube,' and in the following years, he introduced the fashion brand 'Nerdy' and the instant photo booth brand 'Photo Gray.' The company name was changed from April Skin to APR.
Capability
He grew APR, which started with 50 million won in seed capital, into a KOSPI-listed company within 10 years. Since its listing in February last year, APR has been recording peak performance day after day. Currently, APR's stock price has risen more than 200% compared to the public offering price. As of the 23rd, APR's market capitalization stands at 6.8165 trillion won, far surpassing that of LG Household & Health Care (5.1696 trillion won) and trailing closely behind Amorepacific090430 (7.879 trillion won).
CEO Kim, who holds a 31% stake in APR, recently made headlines by appearing on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bloomberg introduced CEO Kim as a "30-something founder who joined the ranks of billionaires with K-beauty devices." CEO Kim is gaining significant attention as the first MZ-generation entrepreneur in Korea to make the billionaires list.
CEO Kim is evaluated as having achieved unprecedented results through SNS marketing targeted at the MZ generation. From the early stages of its establishment, APR increased brand awareness through a strategy that actively utilized SNS channels. He successfully made cosmetic products hits by deploying influencer marketing, which was not common at the time. Recently, he has engaged in overseas celebrity marketing through channels like TikTok, which has had the effect of significantly expanding the proportion of overseas sales.
Critical
APR is entering its first cash dividend distribution since its inception. In particular, this dividend attracts attention because it is a "reduced dividend" method using capital reserves. Unlike general dividends, a reduced dividend has the character of returning capital paid by shareholders to the company, so it is not subject to dividend income tax (15.4%) and is excluded from comprehensive financial income taxation (up to 49.5%). From an investor's perspective, they can receive the full dividend amount tax-free.
While APR explains that this reduced dividend is part of implementing a shareholder return policy, some point out that it may be a tax-saving trick by CEO Kim. The tax exemption of the reduced dividend method applies equally to CEO Kim, the largest shareholder; if he receives 3,645 won per share for his 11,953,660 shares, he is expected to receive 43.5 billion won in cash tax-free.
Starting next year, through tax law amendments, a certain percentage of tax will be imposed on the largest shareholder even when reduced dividends are implemented. For this reason, some say that APR preparing for a reduced dividend this year is a strategic move by CEO Kim to take advantage of the last opportunity for tax benefits. Criticism has also been raised that the decision is focused on maximizing the individual interests of the major shareholder.
Challenges
The secret to APR's leap into a global beauty company in a short period was SNS viral marketing. The recent surge in North American sales was triggered by celebrity and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner and model Hailey Bieber posting videos of themselves using Medicube beauty devices on TikTok. As SNS marketing acts as APR's growth engine, the investment amount is also significant. APR, which posted 722.8 billion won in sales last year, spent 126 billion won on advertising and promotion. About 17% of total sales were spent on marketing.
However, it is assessed that the investment in SNS virality carries high risks. Late last year, some users, mainly on North American TikTok, posted videos claiming to have experienced side effects after using Medicube beauty devices. This video spread rapidly, raising controversy over the safety of the devices. When this was reported by local media such as the New York Post, APR began to manage the situation by posting a rebuttal through the official Medicube global account, calling it "misleading false information."
While the SNS and influencer-centered strategy is effective in quickly boosting sales, it has the limitation of being a structure where performance can plummet if negative controversy occurs. Accordingly, voices in the industry suggest that APR must consistently make efforts such as diversifying channels to reduce sales volatility and maintain stable growth.