Suh Min-jung, the oldest daughter of AmorePacific group chairman Suh Kyung-bae, is only 25 years old but has over 450 billion won ($390 million) in inherited fortunes.

Her personal wealth holdings are almost entirely in stocks of AmorePacific companies, a reason why market watchers pay keen attention to the young lady with regard to the group’s succession plan. 


The junior Suh, who last year finished her studies at Cornell University in the U.S. and briefly worked at consulting firm Bain & Company in Seoul, is widely expected to soon join the group. A spokesperson for AmorePacific said she hasn’t joined yet.

“I am still young to talk about succession, ”the 53-year-old Suh Kyung-bae has repeatedly said in past interviews.

Still, observers see Suh Min-jung as the most likely heiress, given that she holds the biggest equity stakes in AmorePacific companies within the founding family, barring her father. The chairman has two daughters and no son.

A lion’s share of her inherited wealth is in 2,412,710 preferred stocks of AmorePacific Group, the cosmetics-focused group’s holding company.

The stocks, not publicly traded and carrying no voting rights, will be converted into common stocks of the same number in December this year. Once converted, the junior Suh’s stake in the firm will be 2.7 percent, worth 318.2 billion won based on the close price of common stocks Tuesday.

The heiress also has 1,110 shares of AmorePacific, the group’s crown jewel that owns Sulwhasoo, HERA and Laneige cosmetics brands. They are worth 470 million won.

She is also the second-largest shareholder in three of the group’s unlisted subsidiaries, controlling 19.5 percent of Etude, 18.2 percent of Innisfree and 19.5 percent of eSpoir.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)