Five Scandinavian business executives are listed on Harvard Business Review’s list of the World’s 100 Top Performing CEOs
1. Lars Rebien Sørensen (born 1954) CEO of the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk ranks no. 1 on the list.
Lars Rebien Sørensen joined Novo Nordisk’s Enzymes Marketing in 1982. Over the years, he has completed several overseas postings, including in the Middle East and the US. Mr Sørensen was appointed a member of Corporate Management in May 1994, and in December 1994 he was given special responsibility within Corporate Management for Health Care. He was appointed president and chief executive officer in November 2000. Mr Sørensen will retire from the company by the end of 2016.
Mr Sørensen is vice chairman of the board of Carlsberg A/S, Denmark.
7. Jon Fredrik Baksaas of Telenor
Jon Fredrik Baksaas (born 1954) was until August 2015 the CEO of Telenor.
Among the longest-serving top executives in international telecoms and in Norwegian business life, Baksaas served as President and CEO of Telenor for 13 years, from June 2002 to August 2015. His resignation came under a cloud, as he had acted as one of the primary actors in a bribery and corruption scandal at VimpelCom (where he was a director), in connection with the purchase of wireless licenses in Uzbekistan. Before taking the top position at Telenor, he had served as Telenor’s deputy CEO, CFO, and executive vice president. He joined Telenor in 1989.
9. Michael Wolf (born 1963) of Swedbank
Chairing the 9th position in the Top 100 Best CEOs in the World, is the President and CEO of Swedbank. He holds M.Sc. in Business Administration and Economics. He got employed on March 1, 2009. He has been working in Swedbank as President and CEO along with Group Executive Committee, Member.
17. Lars Rasmussen (born 1959) of Coloplast
With Coloplast since 1988. Executive Vice President, COO and CCO, 2001-2008. In the position as CEO since 2008. He holds E*MBA, Scandinavian International Management Institute and BSc, Aalborg University
48. Lars Renström (born 1951) of Alfa Laval
From 2004 to 2016, Renström was President and CEO of Alfa Laval. In 2016 he became Chairman of Tetra Laval
Renström graduated with a Master of Science in Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology and also holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Economics.
Renström has received the following awards:
His Majesty The King’s Medal: 12th size on Seraphim Order ribbon
Knight of The Legion of Honour
About the list
Why does Novo Nordisk score so high on ESG? According to Sustainalytics, the company benefits from, among other things, its decision to offer insulin at a steep discount to consumers in developing countries; its transparent and limited political lobbying practices; and its responsible policy on animal testing.
This year Harvard Business Review has added to the mix of criteria a measurement of each company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. For this it relied on the calculations of the investment research firm Sustainalytics, and now weights long-term financial results at 80% and ESG performance at 20%.
Feature image (on top): Lars Rebien Sørensen of Novo Nordisk
The World’s 100 Top Performing CEOs, compiled by Admin