They sell five houses in Gangnam for 10,000 won..Why Lee Hyun-sam quit the 200 billion company and became a natural person (neighbor millionaire)

By YoonSeon, Cho

Apr 24, 2025

They sell five houses in Gangnam for 10,000 won..Why Lee Hyun-sam quit the 200 billion company and became a natural person (neighbor millionaire)



It turned out that the reason why Lee Hyun-sam gave up a well-known company with 'annual sales of 200 billion won' was because of the 'illness of unknown cause'.

On EBS and E-Channel co-produced on the 23rd, Seo Jang-hoon's "Neighbor's Millionaires" featured Lee Hyun-sam, who surpassed 200 billion won in annual sales by developing the world's first double-sided frying pan and became the Guinness Book of World Records for the shortest period of sales in home shopping. Lee Hyun-sam, who had been on a roll due to the success of the business, went into the mountains after selling the company for 180 billion won in 2016 due to his poor health. Through 'Neighbor Millionaires', he emphasized the values of life that are more important than money and revealed the happy mountain life of living as a natural person.

After graduating from high school, Lee Hyun-sam went to markets across the country and sold toast pans. He was shy, but if he failed, he had to go back to his hometownThe desperation that " set him on motion. After a lot of hard work, he made a fortune of 1.5 billion won in his early 30s. As of the 1990s, it was enough to buy five apartments in Gangnam, Seoul. Afterwards, Lee Hyun-sam got the idea from the fish-shaped bun machine and started developing a double-sided frying pan with the concept of 'outer and moist'. The two-sided fan, which came to the world with difficulty for more than two years due to repeated failures, became sensational upon release. In order to sell products, home shopping appearances alone were made more than 20-30 times a month, and based on the solid technology he had polished in the past, he was finally reborn as a `God of Business.'




They sell five houses in Gangnam for 10,000 won..Why Lee Hyun-sam quit the 200 billion company and became a natural person (neighbor millionaire)
However, even in midsummer, his health was gradually deteriorating to the point where he had to wear long underwear and leather gloves because his hands were cold. Lee Hyun-sam said, `Even when I went to a large hospital, I had no disease. I was living faster than others, and I was dying faster." In the end, he had no choice but to give up the precious company he had dedicated for 18 years before his death. Lee Hyun-sam, who later went to the mountains in Gangwon-do, accidentally spent the night in an ondol room and hit a turning point in his life. "I didn't take all the tranquilizers and sleeping pills, but I slept too well," he said, adding that he lived in nature as a result of that. At the same time, he introduced that the ingredients such as kimchi, cabbage, radish, and cabbage buried in the ground, not a huge house that uses an entire 30,000 pyeong, or a high-end foreign car, restored his health.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-sam also unveiled a unique philosophy about money. "When I first started my business, I wanted to earn only 3 million won. But I came to want more and more money" he said, conveying his experience "Man's greed knows no bounds" Finally, Lee Hyun-sam "If you look at money, you lose a lot. I almost lived in poverty even after I became rich. You must think about what is important in life," he stressed. Seo Jang-hoon felt a strong tenacity in the warmth of Lee Hyun-sam. This warm energy seems to have made the chairman do well.' Then "I think I should be a warmer person, too. But I don't think it's going to work out," he said, ending with a smile.

Next week, Beauty Health Entrepreneur Kim Han-kyun's episode of '30s 2 trillion Rich' will air. EBS x E-Channel 'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaires' airs every Wednesday night at 9:55 p.m.






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