Who is Anders Holch Povlsen? ASOS shareholder and owner of clothing chain Bestseller who lost his children in the Sri Lanka attacks
THREE of Anders Holch Povlsen’s young children have been killed by suicide bombers in the Sri Lanka terror attacks, a spokesperson for the billionaire has confirmed.
His daughter Alma shared a family photo of her three siblings in front of a swimming pool lined by palm trees three days before the attack.
Who is Anders Holch Povlsen?
Mr Holch Povlsen, 46, is the chief executive and sole owner of Bestseller which has a turnover of around £3 billion, according to a profile in Forbes magazine.
He is married to Anne Storm Pedersen, 40, but it’s not clear which of their four children Alma, Astrid, Agnes and Alfred – who had been enjoying a family holiday in Sri Lanka – died in the suicide blast.
Mr Holch Povlsen is also the biggest shareholder in the British online clothes shop Asos.com and second biggest shareholder in German firm Zalando.
The Danish billionaire has also become Scotland’s largest landowner and owns 12 estates, including Glenfeshie in the Cairngorms, totalling more than 220,000 acres, through his company Wildland Ltd.
His project in Scotland involves “rewilding” parts of the country helping endangered species by reviving rural habitats.
Mr Holch Povlsen is reportedly a keen environmentalist and Wildland describes itself as a “landscape-scale” conservation project.
In an open letter posted a few days ago, he and his wife said they would pass on their 12 estates – and their conservation project – to their kids when they die.
“From our home at Glenfeshie, both Anne and myself – our children and our parents too – have long enjoyed a deep connection with this magnificent landscape.”
Mr Holch Povlsen’s parents opened the family’s first store in the small Danish town of Ringkobing in 1975.
He took over the family business at the age of 28 and Bestseller now sells clothes under 11 brand names, including Jack & Jones, Only and Vero Moda.
Holch Povlsen also has significant stakes in retailer ASOS, online grocery store Nemlig and payments company Klarna.
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In late 1998 the Holch Povlsens were subjected to a ten-month reign of terror by an extortionist called Kurt Hansen, who threatened to kill family members if he didn’t receive £1 million.
Then in 2003, a close family friend was kidnapped in India, where his business has factories, by a gang that mistook him for one of the Holch Povlsens.
He keeps a low profile but is known to visit local pubs in Scotland.
The Holch Povlsen family live in a former royal palace near Aarhus, Denmark’s second city.
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