A European fashion tycoon is the biggest landowner in Scotland—and perhaps even the UK. Danish billionaire Anders Holch Polvsen named the Highlands’ richest person three years in a row, first visited the country for an angling holiday with his parents in the 1980s. Two decades later, the business guru returned wielding a chequebook.
The 52-year-old made his fortune through a clothing and retail empire in Denmark and made his first Scottish investment in 2006. He bought the 42,000-acre Glenfeshie estate in the Cairngorms for £8m, which still serves as his home. Polvsen, the biggest single shareholder in ASOS, and his wife have continued to snap up Scotland’s countryside. It is understood that they now own an estimated 220,000 acres across 12 different estates. But who is the European moneyman, how did he get his riches, and what’s his family story? The Express has everything you need to know.
His life, riches, marriage and children
Anders Holch Povlsen is a billionaire businessman from Denmark, born on November 4, 1972. He is the CEO and sole owner of Bestseller, an international retail clothing chain which includes Vero Moda and Jack Jones.
The 52-year-old is also the largest shareholder in online retailer ASOS and the second-largest clothing retailer in Germany, Zalando.
Polvsen was born to Troels Holch Povlsen and Merete Bech Povlsen, and in his early years, he helped out at the family clothing store – the first which opened in Brande, a small Danish town with a population of just 7,000, in 1975. At just 28, he was made the sole owner of Bestseller.
He is married to Anne Holch Povlsen, and they share four children: Alma, Agnes, Astrid and Alfred. Alma, Agnes and Alfred were killed during a family holiday as a result of the Sri Lanka Easter bombings in 2019.
The couple then welcomed twin girls a year later, in 2020. They had another son in 2021.
Everything Anders Holch Povlsen owns
He owns Wildland Limited, a hospitality and estates firm that holds land in the Highlands. In addition to Bestseller and stakes in ASOS and Zalando, Polvsen also owns a stake in payment company Klarna.
What else does the burgeoning billionaire own?
- Glenfeshie Estate, Inverness-shire – bought in 2006 for £8m
- Estate, Fort William – bought in 2008
- Ben Loyal, Sutherland – bought in 2012
- Kinlock Lodge, Sutherland – bought in 2012
- Gaick Estate, Inverness-shire – bought in 2013
- Aldourie Castle, Loch Ness – bought in 2014 for £15m
- Eriboll Estate, Sutherland – bought in 2014
- Jenners building, Edinburgh – bought in 2017 for reported £53m
- Killiehuntly Farmhouse – located in Cairngorms National Park
- Constantinsborg Estate, Denmark
- Carpathians Mountains Wilderness reserve, Romania
Anders Holch Povlsen’s net-worth
According to The Sunday Times Magazine and its Sunday Times Rich List for 2024, Anders Holch Povlsen is worth an estimated £6.73bn. Net worth is the value of assets an individual or corporation owns minus the liabilities they owe.
