He was for many years the wealthiest person in Finland[4] and directly or indirectly controlled 23.29% of the Sanoma Corporation's shares,[5] whose value on 29 July 2009 was more than €453 million.[6]
Aatos Erkko in 1953, as editor in chief of the news magazine Viikkosanomat, his first job as a journalist. This magazine was also owned by Sanoma.
Aatos Erkko was born in Helsinki. He married Jane Airola in 1959, but they did not have any children.[4]
His father was the politician and journalist Eljas Erkko, who preceded him as editor in chief of Helsingin Sanomat, and his mother was the English-born Eugenia Violet Sutcliffe.[3] Erkko's grandfather Eero Erkko was also a journalist and politician, best remembered as the founder of Helsingin Sanomat.
Sanoma made its initial public offering in 1999, during Aatos Erkko's time as chairman of the board.[7] Reporting news from around the world became increasingly important. Erkko founded Sanoma's own school for journalists in 1967, and Sanoma has foreign correspondents in many countries.[8]
Aatos Erkko was the largest single owner of Finland's largest media concern, holding just over 23% of the Sanoma stock. As one of the key parts of Sanoma, Helsingin Sanomat is the largest newspaper by circulation in the entire Nordic region. The value of his assets was in 2012 estimated as of €600 million. Ca €300 million is in international securities managed by an investment company registered in Switzerland.[4]
