Danish Billionaire owns 1% of Scotland

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Danish Billionaire owns 1% of Scotland

Denmark’s second richest person, the 44-year old Anders Holch Povlsen, has ever since he was on a childhood fishing trip to Scotland, dreamt to own some of the beautiful country. Today the Danish Billionaire owns 1% of Scotland.

Although Anders Holch Povlsen inherited the retail business from his father, Troels Holch Povlsen, he is solely responsible for the new heights of success he has taken the business to. With dedication, hard work and perseverance, he has become one of the most successful businessmen in Denmark.

Danish Billionaire owns 1% of Scotland
Anders Holch Povlsen

Now owning around 1 percent of the Scottish land area means that Povlsen pwns more of Scotland than the Queen herself.

Anders Holch Povlsen took over his father’s business at the age of 28, and eventually became its sole owner and CEO. Today, with retail giants Bestseller and Zalando, he has become one of the youngest and most successful billionaires not only in Denmark, but around the world.

“Not since the Viking era has a Scandinavian taken so much British land,” wrote British Daily Mail.

Danish Billionaire owns 1% of Scotland
Land owned by Povlsen

Under his leadership, Bestseller became a fashion player in Denmark worth $3.2 billion. The company is dedicated to selling clothes and accessories for men, women, children and teenagers. It is operational across 46 markets of Europe, Asia, Canada and the Middle East. The company’s products are marketed under 10 different brand names, which include Vera Moda, Name It and Mamalicious.

Over the last ten years, Povlsen has poured part of his estimated $4bn  earned through his clothing empire Bestseller – with holdings in brands like ASOS and Zalando – into estates around the Scottish highlands.

His company employs more than 12,000 men and women across the globe, 25% of whom are based in Denmark alone. Even after he has completely taken over his parents’ enterprise, they are still involved in its business operations, with Troels sitting on the board and his wife, Merete, as the chairman. Although Anders gained complete ownership of the company in 2012, the company’s website says that it is a family owned business.

With land holdings totaling over 218,000 acres, he is soon set to become the biggest British landowner. He is trailing the Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry with only 7,000 acres, according to The Times.

In total, he owns 11 estates in the Scottish highlands, including 17th-century Aldourie Castle, which is the only habitable castle on the banks of Loch Ness. His most recent acquisition is the 18,000 acre Eriboll estate on the Atlantic coast.

Moyanbrenn Castle (Flickr)

In addition to the estates in Scotland, Povlsen has recently bought some land in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, with an aim to make a wilderness reserve for surviving bears, lynx and wolves.

Feature image (on top): Aldouri Castle (press image)

Danish Billionaire owns 1% of Scotland, compiled by Tor Kjolberg

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Journalist, PR and marketing consultant Tor Kjolberg has several degrees in marketing management. He started out as a marketing manager in Scandinavian companies and his last engagement before going solo was as director in one of Norway’s largest corporations. Tor realized early on that writing engaging stories was more efficient and far cheaper than paying for ads. He wrote hundreds of articles on products and services offered by the companies he worked for. Thus, he was attuned to the fact that storytelling was his passion.