Abstract

"Novo Nordisk and Foundation Ownership"

Jeppe Nevers, University of Southern Denmark (jeppe.nevers@sdu.dk)

This paper explores the historical evolution of foundation ownership in Denmark through the case of Novo Nordisk, one of the world’s most valuable pharmaceutical firms. Since the 1920s, Novo Nordisk has been shaped by its foundation owners, first in the form of rival research-based companies, later consolidated in 1989 under the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Foundation ownership secured Novo Nordisk’s long-term independence and insulated it from short-term market pressures, while at the same time chanelling substantial profits into Danish universities, hospitals, and scientific research. The company’s trajectory illustrates how governance structures emerge not only from entrepreneurial design but also from negotiations, rivalries, and compromises among scientists, families, financiers, and regulators. By tracing these dynamics, the paper situates Novo Nordisk within both the Danish tradition of industrial foundations and the wider historiography on ownership and varieties of capitalism. More broadly, it shows how the distinctive Danish model of foundation governance has potentially affected economic resilience and societal legitimacy, offering an alternative to shareholder primacy and a distinctive form of capitalism.