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Face mask craze creates Korean billionaire with Goldman backing
原文
Face masks can moisturize[ˈmɔistʃraiz], 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.
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.
Kim started his career in the beauty industry selling cosmetics to wholesalers in 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.
The company introduced a new product, the Honey Luminous Royal Propolis Mask, 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.
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.
"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.
"It's an area for specialists, " Lee said.
生词
- moisturizer, a substance that you put on your skin to stop it from becoming dry
- exfoliate, verb [ I or T ], to remove dead skin cells from the surface of the skin, in order to improve its appearance
- fortune, noun, a large amount of money, goods, property, etc.
- tad, noun, a little, slightly
- Jung-woong
- Goldman Sachs, 高盛投资公司
- acquire, verb [T], to get something
- Co. Ltd, Co. 是company公司的缩写，就读company的发音, Ltd. 是 Limited是有限公司的缩写，读limited一词的音.
- lipstick, 口红
- cosmetics, 化妆品
- wholesaler, 批发商
- establish, [T often passive] to start a company or organization that will continue for a long time
- flagship, noun [C], the best or most important product, idea, building, etc. that an organization owns or produces
- conglomerate, [C] a company that owns several smaller businesses whose products or services are usually very different
- chaebol, one of the several large, powerful groups of companies in South Korea that are involved in various different types of business
- diversify, verb, to start to include more different types or things
- infrastructure, the basic systems and services, such as transport and power supplies, that a country or organization uses in order to work effectively
- retailer, noun, a person, shop, or business that sells goods to the public
- Sephora, 丝芙兰（全球连锁的护肤美容化妆品店）
- undisclosed, If official information is undisclosed, it is secret
