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Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
3 Governance Lessons From Novo Nordisk's Stunning CEO Dismissal
Novo Nordisk, maker of the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, ... More outside their building in Bagsvaerd, Denmark (Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT (Photo by MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images) The abrupt firing of Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen exposed a fatal flaw in Scandinavia's most stable ownership model: too much separation between social and business considerations. But the governance reforms sparked by this crisis may be exactly the fix Novo Nordisk needed. When Novo Nordisk announced on May 16 that CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen was "stepping down," the pharmaceutical world was stunned. The real shock wasn't the departure itself—it was how it happened. The board leaked the decision before informing the CEO, who told Danish broadcaster TV2 that he never saw it coming. This mess exposed vulnerabilities in one of the world's most respected ownership models—foundation-owned firms—used by corporate giants from Patagonia to Ikea to the Tata Group. The Novo Nordisk crisis may offer a chance to fix these cracks, and Carlsberg's foundation structure shows how. Jørgensen's firing followed a spectacular market meltdown. Novo Nordisk shares plunged almost 50% since mid-2024 as U.S. rival Eli Lilly stole market share. The company lost approximately $300 billion in market value from its peak of $615 billion in March 2024. WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 24: Novo Nordisk President and CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen (Photo by ... More) This collapse happened despite Novo Nordisk operating in what analysts call the most lucrative pharmaceutical market in decades. The company stumbled badly. Compound copycats—temporarily allowed to ease supply shortages—hurt demand. Disappointing trial results for its next-generation obesity drug shook investor confidence. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly got its drugs off shortage lists faster and ramped up manufacturing more effectively. Even though Novo Nordisk's Foundation had good reason to worry about Jørgensen's performance, the company is organized to ensure that the Foundation stays out of Novo Nordisk's operations. Yet, this was clearly not the case in Jørgensen's firing. Novo Nordisk Board Chair Helge Lund said explicitly that the decision came from "an expression from our main owners to accelerate the CEO succession process." This level of interference broke the rules that Novo Nordisk seemed to have established. Here's how the Novo Nordisk Foundation is structured. Novo Nordisk Foundation has full ownership of Novo Holdings A/S, which is their profit arm. The 'A/S' is equivalent to 'Inc' in the US or 'PLC' in the UK, signaling a joint-stock, limited liability company. The Foundation appoints two members to Novo Holdings A/S, which owns 28.1% of the share capital of Novo Nordisk A/S. The Novo Nordisk Foundation, then, is quite removed from the Novo Nordisk board, but retains some influence through the Novo Holdings. This helps to separate the Foundation's philanthropic activities from the pharma business, which generates the philanthropic funds from their business activities. This setup was designed to prevent the Foundation from meddling in the operations of the business – the type of meddling seen with Jørgensen's firing. Chair of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Board, Lars Rebien Sorensen. Photo taken February 17, 2014. ... More (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER) But the recent crisis shows that too much separation creates its own problems. When foundations feel cut off from their companies, they may act rashly. In the case of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, these feelings may have been especially acute, because the Foundation Board Chair, Lars Rebien Sørensen, ran Novo Nordisk from 2000 to 2016. In 2015, the Harvard Business Review placed him at the top of their 'Best-Performing CEOs' list. Sørensen likely had strong opinions about Jørgensen's performance. Yet, Novo Nordisk Foundation did not waste this crisis. It is taking steps to fix the original problem. Sørensen will now sit in on Novo Nordisk board meetings as an observer and will also be nominated for a full board position at the 2026 Annual General Meeting. This marks a major shift toward dual-board representation. The question is whether this change undermines the foundation model or improves it. Industrial foundations are nonprofits that combine business ownership with philanthropy while prioritizing social goals. Foundation ownership challenges traditional shareholder capitalism's profit-first mentality and is gaining recognition as a viable way to control large public companies. Foundation-owned firms are common in Denmark, controlling about 25 of the country's 100 largest companies and 60% of its stock market value. Examples include Bertelsmann, Heineken, Ikea, Robert Bosch, Rolex, and the Tata Group. Although the evidence is not recent, a foundation-owned structure performs at least as well as dispersed ownership and family ownership, yet systematically performs better on its social impact. The key to their success is the clear separation of the foundation from the enterprises it owns: foundations advance social interests, businesses pursue profits. The foundation ensures the company doesn't violate core values but otherwise remains independent. Blur the boundaries between foundations and their companies, and the companies could lose focus while foundations develop conflicts of interest. But some communication is needed—if done right. Carlsberg shows how. Two of the Carlsberg Foundation's five board members sit on the brewery's board, including the Foundation Chair who serves as the company's Vice-Chair. This creates 'governance bridges'—formal channels that let foundations oversee without emergency interventions that can destabilize management and spook investors. Regular communication prevents the kind of crisis that hit Novo Nordisk. Some distance between foundations and companies helps both pursue their missions. But too much distance can trigger crises. Even well-designed governance separation becomes dangerous when communication breaks down during crises. Separation without communication channels can be as harmful as excessive meddling. I gained a genuine interest in this corporate form after interviewing the former CEO of Novo Nordisk, Mads Øvlisen, and 'father of CSR'. I became so intrigued that I investigated this form of ownership and also wrote about Yves Chouinard's decision to divest control of Patagonia to a trust. The Novo Nordisk crisis teaches three key lessons: Novo Nordisk's governance experiment faces close scrutiny in coming months. Whether the company can restore investor confidence while preserving foundation ownership's long-term stability will determine if this crisis becomes a cautionary tale or a successful reform model for foundation-controlled enterprises worldwide.
The Star
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Future queen of Belgium caught up in Harvard foreign student ban
FILE PHOTO: Count Felix and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium attend Prince Christian's 18th birthday celebration at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark October 15, 2023. Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS/ File Photo BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Princess Elisabeth, the 23-year-old future queen of Belgium, has just completed her first year at Harvard University but the ban imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on foreign students studying there could jeopardise her continued studies. The Trump administration revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students on Thursday, and is forcing current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status in the U.S., while also threatening to expand the crackdown to other colleges. "Princess Elisabeth has just completed her first year. The impact of (the Trump administration's) decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation," the Belgian Royal Palace's spokesperson Lore Vandoorne said. "We are analyzing this at the moment and will let things settle. A lot can still happen in the coming days and weeks," the Palace's communication director, Xavier Baert, added. Elisabeth is studying Public Policy at Harvard, a two-year master's degree program that according to the university's website broadens students' perspectives and sharpens their skills for "successful career in public service". The princess is heir to the Belgian throne, as the eldest of four children born to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Before attending Harvard, she earned a degree in history and politics from the UK's Oxford University. Harvard said on Thursday the move by the Trump administration - which affects thousands of students - was illegal and amounted to retaliation. (Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Frances Kerry)
The Star
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Ice hockey-Denmark stun Canada, Swedes beat Czechs to reach world championship semis
Ice Hockey - IIHF World Championships - Quarter Finals - Canada v Denmark - Jyske Bank Boxen Arena, Herning, Denmark - May 22, 2025 General view during the match Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via REUTERS
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Sleep Token Makes History As Younger Fans Embrace The Band
Sleep Token's Even in Arcadia debuts at No. 1 on multiple Billboard charts and breaks the record for ... More the most-streamed hard rock album in a single week in the U.S. British heavy metal group "Sleep Token" performs on stage during the heavy metal music Festival Copenhell, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 15, 2023 (Photo by Helle Arensbak / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT (Photo by HELLE ARENSBAK/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images) Sleep Token dominates the Billboard charts this week as the band's new album Even in Arcadia launches with a huge opening figure. The hard rock group makes history in a multitude of ways with the full-length, which proved to be a true commercial smash the moment it arrived. Sales largely powered Even in Arcadia to the top spot on several rankings, but the project was also a big winner on streaming platforms. Sleep Token even managed to break an all-time record thanks to a young fanbase – one which largely streams, rather than buys – that flocked to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and others to hear the latest from the English masked act. In its first full tracking frame in the U.S. alone, Billboard reports that Even in Arcadia racked up 68.89 million on-demand streams. The music magazine notes that this figure is now the largest streaming sum in a single week for any hard rock album in American history. Using Billboard's methodology, those nearly 69 million plays equate to 53,000 equivalent album units. That's enough to send Even in Arcadia right to No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart. Sleep Token earns its first leader on that list, which was introduced several years ago to rank the most successful full-lengths on streaming platforms in the U.S. Even in Arcadia also arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 127,000 equivalent album units shifted. Album sales made up much of the remaining total that wasn't connected to streaming activity, as the project sold a little more than 73,000 copies. That proved to be enough to help it debut atop the Top Album Sales chart as well. Even in Arcadia marks Sleep Token's second appearance on the Billboard 200, which is incredible considering how massive this debut ended up becoming. The group doesn't just land its first No. 1 with the new set, but also its first top 10. With the just-dropped project, the rockers — who remain completely anonymous outside of the characters they've created for the act — have jumped from a previous peak of No. 16 to claiming the largest streaming week ever for a hard rock set.
The Star
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Estonia says Russia detained a tanker in Baltic Sea
FILE PHOTO: Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna speaks during a press conference after a meeting of the Foreign ministers from the member countries of the Nordic-Baltic Eight, NB8, at the island of Bornholm, Denmark, Tuesday April 29, 2025. The member countries in the NB8 cooperation are the three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the five Nordic countries Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark . Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS/File Photo TALLINN (Reuters) -Russia detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said, adding that it had alerted NATO allies to the incident. The Liberia-flagged ship Green Admire was leaving Sillamae port using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters, the ministry said in a statement. "Today's incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably," said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. "I have also informed our Allies of the event." The Green Admire had departed Sillamae port on Saturday 18:40 GMT, and on Sunday afternoon was anchored near Russia's Hogland island, according to Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels. The ship was bound for Rotterdam with a load of Estonia's shale oil, said the Estonian Transport Administration. The navigation channel out of Sillamae through Russian territorial waters has been set up under an agreement between Estonia, Finland and Russia to avoid shallows in the Estonian waters, the administration said. Vessels sailing into and out of the port will now be guided through Estonian territorial waters, it added. The Baltic has seen confrontations at sea over what NATO countries have described as Russian efforts to evade sanctions and sabotage undersea cables and pipelines. On Thursday, Estonia said Russia had sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea after an attempt to stop a Russia-bound tanker thought to be part of a so-called 'shadow fleet' used by Moscow to evade sanctions. (Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Peter Graff)
