Tropic Skincare founder Susie Ma takes £20m-plus payout after buying out Lord Sugar

Susie Ma, founder of Tropic Skincare, has received more than £20 million in dividends after regaining full control of the company she founded, according to Companies House filings and the firm's annual results.

The filings show Ma paid herself a dividend of £18.2 million for the 2024 financial year and that a further £2 million dividend was approved at the end of April 2025. Those payments follow an £11 million dividend approved in 2023, the accounts indicate.

The payments come after Ma completed a buyout of Lord Alan Sugar’s stake in Tropic in 2023. Lord Sugar, who invested £200,000 in the business after Ma appeared on BBC One’s The Apprentice in 2011, previously held a 50% stake and resigned as a director in April 2023. Companies House records and the company accounts say Lord Sugar will receive a multi-million pound payout as part of the exit arrangement and that he is being paid in stages.

Tropic’s annual results show the business strengthened key financial metrics in the most recent year. Pre-tax profit rose by more than 30% to £8.7 million and sales increased to £68 million from £62.3 million the previous year, the accounts state. The average number of employees fell to 286 from 316 in 2024, and charitable donations rose to £615,000 from £444,674 the prior year.

A statement signed off by the board in the annual results said the company "performed very well during the year… despite the challenges of the aftereffects of the pandemic." It added that a cost-saving review of some direct costs led to improvements in gross margins and that the firm continued to invest in "its people, its products, its software and its manufacturing equipment." The board said it prioritised cost-reduction initiatives and efficiency improvements across the business.

Tropic operates primarily online and through a network of about 20,000 part-time brand ambassadors who receive a personal website, training and commission on sales. The company’s publicly available information lists ambassador commissions in the range of 25% to 35% and notes a starter kit purchase of £198 with no ongoing fees.

Ma founded Tropic in 2004 at age 15, selling body scrubs at Greenwich market before scaling the business. She studied economics at University College London and finished third on The Apprentice in 2011, when Lord Sugar made his initial investment. The combination of rising profits, stronger sales and the removal of a joint owner has enabled the recent distributions to Ma.

Company accounts and filings do not disclose full details of the schedule for payments to Lord Sugar but show the director change and the dividend approvals that underpin the recent payouts. Ma is now understood to have a substantially increased personal stake in the business and is reported to have an estimated net worth in the tens of millions of pounds.

The filings and board commentary portray a company citing improved margins and targeted investment as drivers for performance, while continuing to rely on direct online sales and its ambassador network for distribution. The recent dividends mark a significant liquidity event for Ma following the 2023 buyout and a multi-year period of growth reported by the firm.