The richest families in Denmark have seen their combined fortunes shrink for only the second time in at least 15 years, even though the Lego-owning Kirk Kristiansen family remains far ahead at the top of the ranking. A new assessment from business outlet Økonomisk Ugebrev, produced with loyalty-tech company Loyalty Key, shows how wealth at the very top is falling, while many families further down the list are still gaining ground.
How the ranking of Denmark’s wealthiest families is compiled
Every year Økonomisk Ugebrev publishes an estimate of the 100 richest families in Denmark, based on publicly available accounts, stock market valuations and expert calculations. The list focuses on owner families behind Danish companies, rather than on the largest firms listed on the stock exchange. This is why energy group Ørsted, for example, does not appear in the ranking, while family-controlled businesses such as Lego, Bestseller, Danfoss, Jysk, Coloplast and Ecco dominate the top.
According to Økonomisk Ugebrev, the 100 wealthiest families together now control an estimated 1,225 billion Danish kroner (around €164 billion). That is about 15 billion kroner less than a year ago, and the decline is concentrated at the very top: the ten wealthiest families alone have lost around 44 billion kroner compared with 2024.
The top 10 richest families in Denmark in 2025
The new figures confirm that there is still a clear frontrunner. The Kirk Kristiansen family, which owns the investment company Kirkbi and the Lego Group, remains number one with an estimated wealth of 350.4 billion kroner (about €46.9 billion).
Below Lego, the list is dominated by well-known consumer and industrial brands. The ranking of the top 10 richest families in Denmark in 2025 is as follows:
- Kirk Kristiansen family (Lego, Kirkbi) – 350.4 billion kroner (about €46.9 billion)
- Holch Povlsen family (Bestseller, Heartland and investments) – 113.2 billion kroner (about €15.2 billion)
- Clausen family (Danfoss) – 66.3 billion kroner (about €8.9 billion)
- Heirs of Lars Larsen (Jysk) – 56.2 billion kroner (about €7.5 billion)
- Louis-Hansen family (Coloplast) – 52.9 billion kroner (about €7.1 billion)
- Torben Østergaard Nielsen and family (Selfinvest, USTC, bunker fuel and logistics) – 29.6 billion kroner (about €4.0 billion)
- Niels Aage Kjær and family (AVK Group) – 19.0 billion kroner (about €2.5 billion)
- Heirs of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (A.P. Møller – Mærsk) – 18.4 billion kroner (about €2.5 billion)
- Kann Rasmussen family (VKR Holding, including Velux) – 17.4 billion kroner (about €2.3 billion)
- Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak and family (Ecco) – 15.8 billion kroner (about €2.1 billion)
The ranking underlines how family ownership remains central to Danish business life. From toys and fashion to industrial components and medical devices, these families manage companies that are deeply integrated into European and global markets.
Wealth losses at the very top of the list
Although the Lego family is still far ahead, its estimated wealth has fallen from 368.8 to 350.4 billion kroner over the past year. According to the compilers of the list, this does not reflect a downturn in Lego’s sales, but rather a lower valuation of comparable listed companies, which pulls down the calculated value of the privately held Lego Group.
The Louis-Hansen family behind medical device producer Coloplast has experienced the largest single loss among the top 10, with an estimated 22 billion kroner wiped off its fortune after a significant drop in Coloplast’s share price. The Clausen family at Danfoss has also seen its calculated wealth shrink by around 18 billion kroner.
Further down the top 10, Ecco owner Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak has lost roughly 35 percent of her family’s estimated wealth. The shoe company reported weaker results in its latest financial statements, including a deficit of about 280 million kroner, and that downturn is reflected in the lower valuation of the family fortune.
Where fortunes are growing: Bestseller, Jysk and other winners
While some of the richest families in Denmark are facing lower valuations, others have moved in the opposite direction. The Holch Povlsen family, which controls fashion group Bestseller and investment company Heartland, has recorded the largest increase in wealth among Danish billionaires this year. Their estimated fortune has grown by 27 billion kroner, consolidating their position as the second-richest family in Denmark behind Lego.
The heirs of Lars Larsen, founder of home retail chain Jysk, have also seen a strong rise. Their combined wealth has increased by about 13 billion kroner, pushing them up to fourth place in the ranking. The improvement reflects solid performance in the Jysk business and related investments.
Outside the absolute top, the owners of hardware and DIY chain Harald Nyborg, the Daell brothers, have advanced on the broader top-100 list after their fortune rose to just under 10 billion kroner. Growth in discount chains such as jem & fix has contributed to this trend.
Why shrinking fortunes do not mean an acute crisis
Despite the headline figure of 44 billion kroner lost among the ten richest families, the compilers of the ranking stress that this does not signal an acute crisis for Danish billionaires. The estimated fortunes are primarily paper values, based on the market valuation of the companies they control.
In practice, this means that wealth can fall in a year with lower share prices or more cautious valuations, even if the underlying businesses remain profitable. For most of the families on the list, these are not liquid sums in bank accounts, but long-term holdings in companies that employ thousands of people in Denmark and abroad.
However, analysts also note that a prolonged period of weaker earnings or falling valuations can become a strategic challenge. For example, if Ecco does not manage to reverse its recent downturn, the pressure on the family’s wealth and on the company’s investment capacity could intensify over time.
What Denmark’s richest families reveal about the economy
The annual ranking of the richest families in Denmark offers a snapshot of how wealth is distributed in an economy built on a mix of export-oriented industry, global consumer brands and logistics. It highlights how family-controlled companies continue to play a central role in Denmark and across the Nordic region, even as they compete in highly internationalised markets.
Many of the families at the top of the list are connected to sectors that are crucial for European value chains – from shipping and energy-related services to medical technology and green industrial solutions. Their fortunes rise and fall with global demand, currency movements and stock market sentiment, but they are also closely tied to long-term investment decisions in Denmark and the wider European Union.
In this sense, the new list not only shows who is richest, but also which types of businesses are shaping Denmark’s economic position in the Nordic region and in Europe. The movements in the ranking over time will continue to reflect broader shifts in the global economy – and in how Danish family capital adapts to them.
