Sixteenth Spot: Stefan Persson
Stefan Persson (born October 4, 1947) is the
son of Erling Persson who founded the Swedish fashion company
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). Since 1982 Stefan has been the main
owner of H&M. According to Forbes Magazine, Persson was worth
$14.5 billion in 2009, making him the second richest man in
Sweden and the 16th richest person in the world. He lives in
Stockholm, Sweden.
Fortune |
Business |
Country |
Status |
14.5 Billion |
Retail |
Sweden |
Married, 3 children |
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Joined Hennes & Mauritz AB, Stockholm, Sweden,
1972; board chair, 1979; served as chief executive officer,
1982–98. Also serves on the boards of the Stockholm School
of Entrepreneurship, Electrolux and INGKA Holding B.V.
Persson has turned H&M into Europe's largest clothing
retailer, with more than 840 stores in 14 countries. When
H&M opened its first store in Manhattan, hordes of shoppers
queued on the sidewalk eager to stock up on the retailer's
inexpensive yet trendy wares. "As a newcomer to the U.S., we
were pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction," said
Persson with characteristic reserve.
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H&M had leased a piece of prime real
estate, on Fifth Avenue just across the street from
Rockefeller Center, and spent heavily on a pre–launch
advertising campaign geared toward an opening date of March
31, 2000. Persson was confident about entering such a tough,
saturated market when he spoke to WWD writer Anne
D'Innocenzio on the night before the flagship New York store
opened to the public. "We are giving an extra edge when it
comes to fashion," he told D'Innocenzio. "We are giving
value for the money. Americans like to make a good deal."
His instincts proved correct: When the doors opened the next
day, shoppers besieged the multilevel emporium, and security
personnel had to close the doors for a time because the
space was above capacity.
Part of H&M's success came
from the in–house design team that Persson had established
at company headquarters in Stockholm in the mid–1980s,
staffed by recent design–school graduates. The company's
manufacturing was then outsourced to a vast network of some
1,600 suppliers in countries like Bangladesh, China, and
Turkey, where labor costs were low. Persson was also
convinced that tweaking merchandise for different countries
was a waste of company resources. "Everyone listens to the
same type of music, watches the same films," he told
D'Innocenzio in WWD. (wiki)
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