A FORMER contestant on The Apprentice has walked away with a £20 million payday – after buying out Lord Sugar from her vegan skincare empire.
Ex finalist Susie Ma – who starred on the BBC One reality TV show 14 years ago – is now thought to be worth around £73 million after taking full ownership of her Tropic skincare business.
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The Apprentice 2011 star Susie Ma, 36, bought Lord Sugar out in 2023, making him millions while giving her back sole control of her empire.
The BBC boardroom runner-up has since enjoyed record-breaking profits and a lumpy personal payout.
According to the latest information at Companies House, Ma drew dividends worth £18.2 million in 2024 – with an additional £2 million approved in April this year.
This follows an £11 million dividend declared in 2023, just after Lord Sugar stepped away from the skincare and beauty firm.
Lord Sugar – who originally invested £200,000 after Ma impressed him during the show – also received a substantial return.
The billionaire businessman held a 50 per cent stake before resigning as a director in April 2023.
Despite finishing in third place, Susie’s Tropic business has gone from strength to strength.
Pre-tax profits rose by more than 30 per cent last year to £8.7 million, while turnover climbed to £68 million, up from £62.3 million the year before.
Founded by Ma at just 15 years old, Tropic began life with homemade body scrubs sold at Greenwich Market.
Today, the extensive range can be purchased online and through a network of around 20,000 self-employed “ambassadors,” who buy starter kits and earn commission of up to 35 per cent on sales.
The former teenage start-up has now been turned into a multimillion-pound beauty empire.
The TV star was the youngest candidate to ever appear on the show and by 21 had helped her mum with a house deposit.
Susie – who grew up in Queensland and Cairns before moving to London at 13 – experimented with the body scrub her grandma made in Australia.
The savvy star used to spend from Thursdays to Sundays selling at the same market as her mum over the school summer holidays.
In the final year of her degree she shut down Tropic to concentrate on her studies, and was headed for the corporate life when she landed a job in the city.
But in 2010 she spotted a Facebook post about the new series of The Apprentice and knew this could be her chance to relaunch Tropic – and make it huge.
Out of 73,000 applicants, Susie made it to the final four and was the youngest candidate to ever appear on the show at just 21 years old.
Despite making it to the final rounds, Susie lost out on the top prize to Tom Pellereau.
Nick Hewer – Lord Sugar’s right-hand man – later advised his boss to invest in Susie’s business, which prompted him to take a second look.
On December 1, 2011, Sugar invested £200,000 for a 50 per cent share of Tropic.
Despite turnover dropping to £65m in 2022 due to the after-effects of the pandemic, philanthropist Susie and the company paid for 6 million school days for 160 schools around the world.
She has since been named on the Sunday Times rich list‘s 40 under 40.
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