Anders Holch Povlsen (born 4 November 1972) is a Danish billionaire,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

and sole owner of the international retail clothing chain

Bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cook ...

(which includes

Vero Moda Filler text (also placeholder text or dummy text) is text that shares some characteristics of a real written text, but is random or otherwise generated. It may be used to display a sample of fonts, generate text for testing, or to spoof an e- ...

and Jack&Jones), a company founded by his parents. He is the largest shareholder in the British internet fashion retailer

ASOS ASOS or Asos may refer to: * Asos, a village in Greece * ASOS (retailer), a UK online fashion store * Association Sportive Oussou Saka, a Beninese football team * Automated Surface Observing System, a type of weather station * Air Support Operat ...

and second-largest in German internet clothing retailer

Zalando Zalando SE is a publicly traded German online retailer of shoes, fashion and beauty. The company was founded in 2008 by David Schneider and Robert Gentz and has more than 50 million active users in 25 European markets. Zalando is active in a vari ...

. He is also the largest individual private landowner in the UK. As of September 2022, Povlsen was listed as the richest Dane with a net worth estimated at US$11.3 billion.

Early life

Anders Holch Povlsen was born in 1972 to

Troels Holch Povlsen Troels Holch Povlsen (born 9 September 1949) is a Danish businessman, founder of the fashion chain Bestseller. Early life Troels Holch Povlsen was born on 9 September 1949 in Risskov, Aarhus. His father was a regional head of social services (s ...

and Merete Bech Povlsen. The family's first clothing store opened in 1975 in the small Danish town of

Brande Brande is a railway town with a population of 7,449 (1 January 2022)Luisa Kroll
Meet Denmark's Newest, Youngest Fashion Billionaire
''Forbes'', 13 December 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2019. Other outlets soon followed. Anders was only 28 when his father made him the sole owner of

. The family also has an interest, along with two Danish partners, in Bestseller Fashion Group China, a company that designs its own collections for 5,000 stores in China. Povlsen has a BA degree from

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...

, and his alma mater gave him an honorary doctorate in 2015.

Career

In 2013, Povlsen bought a 10% stake in the German internet clothing retailer

, becoming its third largest shareholder. Povlsen already had a 27% stake in

ASOS.com ASOS plc ( ) is a British online fashion and cosmetic retailer. The company was founded in 2000 in London, primarily aimed at young adults. The website sells over 850 brands as well as its own range of clothing and accessories, and ships to al ...

, the largest UK internet-only fashion retailer. In October 2019, Povlsen's net worth was estimated as US$8.0 billion, making him the wealthiest person in Scotland.

As a landowner

Scotland

In 2018/2019 it was reported that Povlsen owns of land in Scotland, making him its largest landowner.McCann, David (8 October 2018)
"Dane of the Highlands is UK’s biggest landowner"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

''. Retrieved 22 April 2019. This has risen from a 2012 level of , when he had bought two further large estates, the 24,000-acre Ben Loyal, and 18,000-acre Kinloch Lodge, both in

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later c ...

, in addition to a 47,000-acre estate he bought in

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populat ...

in 2006 and a 30,000-acre estate near Fort William that he bought in 2008. In 2013, it was reported that Povlsen had bought the Gaick Estate in

earlier that year, bringing his total to , second only to the Buccleuch Estates as Scotland's largest private landowner. In addition, Povlsen had bought land in the Borders specifically to trade it with the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

, in return for 1,000 acres of woodland to add to his 43,000-acre Glenfeshie Estate, south of

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popu ...

. Povlsen bought Glenfeshie in 2006, and expanded it by buying the 4,000-acre neighbouring farm of Killiehuntly. In 2014, he bought Aldourie Castle on the banks of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claim ...

for £15 million. He also bought the

Eriboll Eriboll ( Scottish Gaelic: Earabol) is a village in Sutherland, Scotland. The village is situated on the south eastern shore of Loch Eriboll, in the northern part of the former county of Sutherland. The main A838 coast road connects the villa ...

estate in

. In 2017 Povlsen bought the

Jenners Jenners is a former well-established department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Princes Street. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005. It closed in De ...

building on Princes Street in Edinburgh, reportedly for £53 million. He announced plans to renovate the building, including a hotel and rooftop restaurant. He plans to combine his adjoining estates and re-wild them. Aggressive techniques to facilitate tree growth were adopted after 2004 and into the 2020s in Glenfeshie within the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park ( gd, Pàirc Nàiseanta a' Mhonaidh Ruaidh) is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Tros ...

Denmark

In Denmark, Povlsen owns and resides at the old Constantinsborg Estate west of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwes ...

, along with substantial farmland and forests.

Romania

Povlsen has bought land in Romania's Carpathian Mountains to create a wilderness reserve for the surviving

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

and

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, O ...

Personal life

Povlsen is married to Anne Holch Povlsen (formerly Anne Storm-Pedersen), and the couple had four children: Alma, Agnes, Astrid and Alfred. Alma, Agnes and Alfred were killed at the

Shangri-La Colombo Shangri-La Colombo is a 5-star hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Owned by Shangri-La Hotels, the property is part of the larger One Galle Face development project at the site of the Old Army Headquarters. It is the second Shangri-La hotel on the ...

hotel during the

2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated ISIS-related terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, there were smaller explo ...

, when the family was on holiday there. They had twin girls less than a year later on 11 March 2020, and another son on 29 September 2021. Povlsen lives at Constantinsborg near

, Denmark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Povlsen, Anders Holch 1972 births Living people 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings 20th-century Danish businesspeople 20th-century Danish landowners 21st-century Danish businesspeople 21st-century Danish landowners Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Danish billionaires Danish businesspeople in fashion People from Aarhus