Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (born 21 November 1968) is a Danish businessman who is the current executive chairman of The Lego Group. He succeeded Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen as president and CEO of the company in October 2004, holding the position for over 12 years until January 2017, when he stepped down to become executive chairman.
He was the second person from outside the family of Ole Kirk Christiansen to lead the company (the first one being Vagn Holck Andersen between 1973 and 1979), and is widely credited with turning it around from failure.[1][2]
Knudstorp was born in 1968, grew up in Fredericia, and graduated from Fredericia Gymnasium before attending Aarhus University.[3]
After obtaining his undergraduate degree in economics, Knudstorp began an academic career as a researcher at his alma mater as well as obtaining a master's degree (1995) and a PhD (1998) in Economics from Aarhus University.[3] He stayed in academia, but worked as a business consultant from 1998 to 2000.[3]
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp joined the LEGO Group in 2001 after working as a McKinsey & Company consultant[4]
and university researcher at Aarhus University.[3] In 2004, he was selected as the company's next leader.
Under Knudstorp's tenure, LEGO's yearly income went from a loss to drawing a notable profit.[5][6] In 2016, the company experienced a 600% increase in turnover, from 6.3 billion to 37.9 billion.[7] In December 2016, it was announced that Knudstorp would step down as CEO of LEGO, and instead take the position of chairman of the group.[8] He was succeeded by Bali Padda.[9]
^Pedersen, Signe Ferslev (6 December 2016). "Knudstorp stopping as CEO of LEGO". Business.dk (in Danish). Berlingske Media. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
