Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (born 21 November 1968 in

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 16 ...

) is a Danish businessman, who is the executive chairman and former CEO of the

Lego Group Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aro ...

. He succeeded

Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (; born 27 December 1947) is the former President and CEO of The Lego Group (1979–2004). According to ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', Kristiansen is the third richest Dane, with a net worth of $6.75 billion as of April ...

Early years

Knudstorp was born in 1968, grew up in

and graduated from Fredericia Gymnasium before attending

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Knudstorp began an academic career as a researcher at his alma mater as well as obtaining a master's degree (1995) and a PhD (1998) in Economics from

. He stayed in academia, but worked as a business consultant from 1998 to 2000.

Lego career

Jørgen Vig Knudstorp joined the LEGO Group in 2001 after working as a

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

consultant and university researcher at

. Under Knudstorp's tenure, LEGO Group's yearly income has gone from a loss to drawing a notable profit. and a 600% increase in turnover from 6.3 billion to 37.9 billion in 2016. In December 2016, it was announced that Knudstorp would step down as CEO of LEGO, and instead take the position of chairman of the group.

Positions outside Lego

In January 2017,

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

nominated Knudstorp to its board of directors.''Starbucks Nominates Rosalind Brewer, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp and Satya Nadella to its Board of Directors''
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References

External links

LEGO Company ManagementInterview with Jørgen Vig Knudstorp at MonocleInterview with Jørgen Vig Knudstorp at Meet the Boss TVAt LEGO, Growth and Culture Are Not Kid Stuff - An interview with Jorgen Vig KnudstorpWisdom From The Top with Guy Raz
Living people Danish businesspeople Danish chairpersons of corporations Lego people 1968 births McKinsey & Company people Aarhus University alumni People from Fredericia {{Lego-stub