No.9 面膜致富

第九天:在化妆品市场竞争中，得面膜者得天下。那面膜究竟如何打造出韩国亿万富翁？ Face mask craze creates Korean billionaire with Goldman backing 在高盛集团的支持下，面膜热潮打造出韩国亿万富翁 Face masks can moisturize, exfoliate, or soothe and cool the skin in minutes. They can also build billion-dollar fortunes, but that takes a tad longer—two years in Kim Jung-woong's case. 面膜能在几分钟内滋润补水、去除角质、舒缓降温。同时，它们也能（为面膜厂商）带来数十亿美元的财富，但是花费的时间就要长一点儿了——对于金正雄来讲，这个时间是两年。 In October, Goldman Sachs acquired 5 percent of Kim's GP Club Co. Ltd. in a $67 million deal that values the maker of creams, lipstick and other beauty products at $1.3 billion. Kim, 44, and his family own the remaining 95 percent. 在 2018 年 10 月，高盛集团斥资 6,700 万美元收购了金正雄名下的 GP Club 有限公司 5% 的股份。在这笔交易中，这家生产面霜、口红和其他美容产品的公司的估值为 13 亿美元。今年 44 岁的金和他的家族拥有剩下 95% 的公司股份。 Kim started his career in the beauty industry selling cosmetics to wholesalersin China and established his own brand, JM Solution, in 2016. It took off from the start, gaining popularity on Alibaba's flagship e-commerce platform, Taobao. 金正雄的化妆品事业始于向中国批发商销售化妆品。2016 年，金成立了自己的品牌肌司研（JM Solution）。该品牌一开始就颇为成功，在阿里巴巴的旗舰电子商务平台淘宝上广受欢迎。 The company introduced a new product, the Honey Luminous Royal PropolisMask, and expanded into Korean duty-free shops. GP Club's lower prices attracted so-called daigou shoppers—people buying products for clients in mainland China, where prices are higher. 之后，该公司推出了新产品蜜莹润蜂胶面膜，并将自家产品打进了韩国的免税店。GP Club 有限公司的产品定价都比较低，因此吸引了所谓的“代购”——他们替中国大陆的客户购买国外商品。在中国大陆，外国商品的价格较高。 In South Korea, self-made fortunes are uncommon. Of the world's 500 richest people, only two of seven Korean billionaires are self-made, according to the Bloomberg wealth index. Family-run business conglomerates, called chaebols, have diversified across industries, leaving little room for self-made competitors. The beauty industry has been the exception. 在韩国，白手起家并不常见。据彭博社财富指数显示，全球最富有的 500 人里，七名韩国亿万富翁中只有两名为白手起家。家族经营的企业集团，又被称为“韩国财阀”，已经垄断了各行各业，没有给白手起家的竞争对手留下太多空间。而美妆行业却是例外。 "Large companies have more money and better infrastructure, but the cosmetics business requires more than that," said Lee Jin-wook, founder of Have & Be Co. Ltd., whose most popular brand, Dr. Jart+, sells creams and face masks online and in retailers like Sephora. In 2015, Estée Lauder Cos. acquired a stake in Have & Be for an undisclosed sum. “大公司的资金更充裕，基础构架更合理；但美妆行业需要的不仅仅是这些。”Have & Be 有限公司的创始人李镇旭（音译）如是说。他旗下人气最高的品牌蒂佳婷，其面霜和面膜在线上网店和线下丝芙兰等零售门店均有售卖。2015 年，雅诗兰黛集团收购了 Have & Be 部分股份，具体金额没有披露。 "It's an area for specialists," Lee said. 李镇旭表示：“这是专业人才的天地。”