AmorePacific chief climbs rich list

/ Captured from Bloomberg Billionaires website

AmorePacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae has overtaken Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong on Bloomberg’s list of the top 200 billionaires.

According to the list’s website, Thursday, Suh, of the cosmetics giant, is 163rd with 8.8 trillion won ($7.9 billion) in net worth. Lee follows at 182nd with $7.5 billion.

Korea’s biggest business magnate, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, is 83rd with $12.8 billion.

Suh made it onto the list last November, trailing Lee.

He had been 181st on March 24, when Lee was 178th. But Suh jumped to 176th on

March 27 while Lee lingered at 181st. The gap continues to grow.

Suh’s rise is linked to the increasing value of AmorePacific’s shares.

The closing price was 3,337,000 won as of Wednesday, a 51.7 jump from 2,200,000 won at the end of last year.

Analysts attribute this to a surge in cosmetic sales at duty free shops, boosted by soaring demand from Chinese tourists.

The list’s top billionaire is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is $83.3 billion, followed by Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett with $70.7 billion and Mexican mogul Carlos Slim, worth $70.2 billion.