Don't leave a legacy for children who own more than 22 houses, and give it back to society (millionaires)

By Sohee, Kim

Apr 10, 2025




"Beauty Millionaire" Lee Sang-il said that the secret to his success is "Doing your best at your job" and "Patience."

In EBS and E-Channel co-production 'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaire' (hereinafter 'Neighborhood Millionaire'), Lee Sang-il appeared and told the secret of his success. Through his life journey from a rural boy who dreamed of becoming a fashion designer to a Parisian international student, and from a legendary hair designer to a current painter, we looked at the meaning of true 'rich' and 'success'.

Lee Sang-il was the first person in Korea in the 1980s to innovate beauty parlors into `premium hair shops,' and named beauty industry workers 'hair designers'. He has been a hair artist for the top stars of the time, including the late Shin Sung-il, Jang Mi-hee, and Kim Wan-sun, and is also the founder of the iconic Andre Kim fashion show 'Sheep Hair Style'.




Lee Sang-il's life began with a dream of becoming a designer like the late Andre Kim. On the day he moved to Seoul, his mother gave him a line of 'boiled eggs' became his soul food. Lee Sang-il demanded '4,200 won' as a life lesson fee for Seo Jang-hoon to tell him the secret of his success. Lee Sang-il, who accidentally translated a foreign fashion magazine and found out about the existence of a 'male hairdresser', said "The magazine translation fee at that time was 4,200 won. The amount that changed my life" he explained. As such, Lee Sang-il changed his career from a fashion designer to a hair designer and went on a blind trip to study in Paris. Seo Jang-hoon admired Lee Sang-il's practical ability, saying, `It is difficult for anyone to decide to study abroad after reading magazines in an era when it is difficult to go abroad.'

Don't leave a legacy for children who own more than 22 houses, and give it back to society (millionaires)
Lee Sang-il, who completed the French National School of Beauty in 1981, returned to Korea and became the first male hair designer in Korea. He opened an innovative hair shop named Hair News and received a cut fee of 15,000 won, 10 times that of other hair salons at the time. He opened the wallets of the rich with a `high-end strategy' that composes everything from shampoo, beauty equipment, and furniture to the top. Lee Sang-il also cut the hair as if it were sculpted to best suit the shape of the customer's face. It was not acceptable to raise the fare even though it was nothing." Thus, his hair salon was so successful that 'Open Run' was a regular occurrence.

However, Lee Sang-il declared that he would never give his enormous fortune to his children. Lee Sang-il, who owns 22 houses on 33,057 square meters (about 10,000 pyeong) of land, asserted that "I will give it to society, leaving only my funeral expenses." Lee Sang-il did not feel that he wanted to make money or become famous as to the secret of his success. 'How can I make this customer the most beautiful?' I concentrated solely on the idea." Then "If you do your best at work, success and material come after me in my shadow. You can be a multi-millionaire with patience" he said.




Next week, Son Jung-hee, the emerging powerhouse of K-dessert with annual sales of 70 billion won, will be broadcast. EBS x E-Channel 'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaires' airs every Wednesday night at 9:55 p.m



yaqqol@sportschosun.com