Troels Holch Povlsen (born 9 September 1949) is a Danish businessman, founder of the fashion 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, cookb ...

Early life

Troels Holch Povlsen was born on 9 September 1949 in

Risskov Risskov is the name of both a neighbourhood and a district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The district of Risskov is sometimes referred to as Vejlby-Risskov, as it is a merger of the neighbourhood of Risskov and the neighbourhood of Vejlby. The ...

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 northwest ...

. His father was a regional head of social services (socialinspektør).

Career

Povlsen and his wife Merete Bech Povlsen co-founded

Ringkøbing Ringkøbing (older spelling ''Ringkjøbing'') is a town in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality in Region Midtjylland on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. It has a population of 9,894 (1 January 2022).

, Denmark, in 1975.Luisa Kroll
Meet Denmark's Newest, Youngest Fashion Billionaire
''Forbes'', December 13, 2012 In 2002, he co-founded furniture store

HAY Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

with Mette and Rolf Hay. His son

Anders Holch Povlsen Anders Holch Povlsen (born 4 November 1972) is a Danish billionaire, CEO and sole owner of the international retail clothing chain Bestseller (which includes Vero Moda and Jack&Jones), a company founded by his parents. He is the largest sharehol ...

inherited his parents' business, Bestseller, when he was 28 years old. He eventually became its CEO and sole owner. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'', Anders Holch Povlsen has a net worth of $4.6 billion, as of January 2015. Povlsen is a director of Bestseller. The Povlsen family interests are managed by the company Nine United, which has its headquarters in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

, Denmark.

Property

He owns

Lindencrone Mansion The Lindencrone Mansion (Danish language, Danish: Lindencrones Palæ) is a historic building located on the corner of Bredgade and Sankt Annæ Plads in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Completed in 1753, it is one of many town mansions which were built ...

, a large historic building in central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, which was the British embassy from 1898 to 1980. In 1995, he bought Gyllingnæs Manor in

Odder Odder is a town in Jutland, Denmark. The town is the seat of Odder municipality, and is the biggest town in the municipality. It is located 20 km south of Aarhus and 16 km south-east of Skanderborg. Odder is part of Business Region Aarhus, and t ...

, south of

, a large estate established by an Englishman John Smith in 1801. In London, he owns 16

Queen Anne's Gate Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early 18th century houses as “the best of thei ...

since 2006, as well as no. 34. No. 16 is a Grade I listed house that was the former home of

John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, (25 January 1841 – 10 July 1920), commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a British Admiral of the Fleet. With more than sixty years in the Royal Navy, his efforts to reform the service helped t ...

, and of William Smith where there are commemorative

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

s in both names. The restoration of the house won a

Georgian Group The Georgian Group is a British Charitable organization, charity, and the national authority on Georgian architecture built between 1700 and 1837 in England and Wales. As one of the Amenity society, National Amenity Societies, The Georgian G ...

award.

Honours

In 2000, Povlsen was appointed a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

Personal life

Povlsen and his wife Merete Bech Povlsen live in Denmark. They have two sons

Anders Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering, Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres (name), Andres via metathesis (linguistics), metathesis. In Sweden, A ...

and Niels, both of whom work for the family company.

References

1949 births Living people Danish businesspeople in fashion 20th-century Danish businesspeople 21st-century Danish businesspeople 20th-century Danish landowners 21st-century Danish landowners Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog People from Aarhus Danish billionaires {{Denmark-business-bio-stub