Kim, 36, owns 31% of APR, whose shares have jumped 200% this year to become the country’s second-largest beauty firm by market value, Bloomberg reported.
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Kim Byung Hoon, CEO and founder of APR. Photo from Kim Byung Hoon’s Instagram/@byunghoon_victor_kim |
The company now has a market cap of 5.65 trillion won (US$4.1 billion), having recently surpassed LG H&H and trailing only Amorepacific, ChosunBiz reported.
It posted an operating profit of 122.7 billion won on revenues of 722.8 billion won last year. Its popular products include home beauty devices like the AGE-R (Booster Pro) and MediCube, and fashion label Nerdy.
Kim’s path to building a billion-dollar business began more than a decade ago, when he was an exchange student in California. Inspired by the rise of smartphones, he started dabbling in mobile apps — including a dating app — before setting his sights on the beauty industry.
In 2014, he co-founded APR with Lee Ju-kwang. The pair made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2017 before Lee exited the company two years later.
APR initially focused on cosmetics but made a major leap in 2021 with at-home facial devices that offer spa-like treatments.
Unlike traditional brands that leaned heavily on duty-free channels or China-centric strategies, APR carved out its niche through TikTok-driven campaigns and sleek, tech-forward products.
As Korean beauty continued gaining global traction alongside the rise of K-pop and Korean dramas, APR’s flagship brand Medicube began attracting attention from international celebrities.
In 2023, Hailey Bieber posted on social media about using the brand’s gel mask, unprompted. She also said she uses the Age-R Booster-H device, giving the product line a boost.
That momentum laid the groundwork for the firm’s major campaigns in 2024 featuring Kylie and Kendall Jenner, as well as Khloe Kardashian.
Eun-Jung Park, an analyst at Hana Securities in Seoul, said Medicube is the top-selling K-beauty brand in the U.S.
“APR is one of the strongest marketing players among K-beauty brands,” Park said.
Last February, Kim took his firm public on the Korea Exchange, raising 95 billion won in a listing that priced its shares at well above the expected selling range.
The tech-to-beauty tycoon is deeply involved in the day-to-day running of APR, according to Shin Jae Ha, the firm’s CFO.
He still shows up at the office regularly, tracks consumer trends and market reactions closely, and often meets with top executives on weekends despite his newfound wealth.
He used to be active online, even sharing a before-and-after video showing how one of APR’s facial devices improved his own skin.
But as APR’s global profile grows, he has gradually stepped back from the spotlight.
Kim has said his ambition is to build APR into the most innovative company in the beauty space.
“We believe our innovative technology created a difference,” Kim said in emailed comments cited by Forbes last year, when his firm had introduced a total of seven products.
“APR is not a company making one one-hit item and keep selling it over and over,” he added.
