Rank #533
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
Net worth $7.3B
Lego · Denmark
- Born
- Dec 27, 1947
- Age
- 78
- Source
- Lego
- Residence
- Billund
- Citizenship
- Denmark
- Marital status
- Married
- Children
- 3
- Education
- Bachelor of Arts/Science, Aarhus Business School; Master of Business Administration, International Institute for Management and Development
Net worth over time
Biography
- Third-generation owner of Lego, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen led the toy company known for its interlocking plastic bricks from 1979 to 2004.
- He and his three grown children together evenly split ownership of a 75% stake in the $7.2 billion (sales) business.
- He stepped down from Lego's board in 2019. His son Thomas, Lego's deputy chairman, will replace him as chair of family holding company Kirkbi in 2023.
- His grandfather Ole, a carpenter, started making wooden toys in his workshop in 1932 before moving into plastic in the 1940s.
- The family also owns about half of theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, which it took private with a consortium in 2019.
- The original Legoland, built in 1968 in Kristiansen's hometown of Billund, is made up of over 20 million Lego bricks.
- The word "Lego" comes from the Danish words "LEg GOdt" ("play well").