Suh Kyung-Bae named Forbes Asia's businessman of the year
Suh Kyung-Bae, chairman and chief cxecutive of South Korea's largest cosmetics company AmorePacific, is named Forbes Asia's Businessman of the Year in 2015.
Suh’s father founded AmorePacific and Suh took over the helm of the family company in 1997. AmorePacific was a successful but very local business, with nearly all of its sales in South Korea. Suh realized then that his Korean-centric company had to change in order to survive. He sold off businesses unrelated to cosmetics, expanded his product lines, and began setting up or enlarging operations around the region.
Today, AmorePacific has more than 20 major brands and sells its products in 14 markets.
Success has also turned AmorePacific into an industry high-flier. Last year, the group’s revenue jumped 21 per cent to US$4.5 billion, while overall growth in the global beauty and personal care industry inched upwards by a mere 1.6%, according to market research firm Euromonitor.
A self-described introvert, Suh says relentless inquisitiveness propels him to take a detail-oriented approach to management. “I always try to learn things with the mind-set of a student as if I was back in school,” he says.
Despite its recent surge of growth, Suh is still working hard to transform AmorePacific into becoming a truly global company. Last year, the company’s revenue from outside South Korea was less than 18% of the total. His goal for AmorePacific stretches beyond Asia – to take on L’Oréal, Estée Lauder and other industry titans on their home turfs in the US and Europe.
The full story can also be found at www.forbes.com/asiabizman.
