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Introduction to Enterprise Foundations


Enterprise foundations are foundations that own companies


Foundation ownership is particularly common in Denmark, whose largest companies – Novo Nordisk, A. P. Møller Maersk, Carlsberg, Danfoss, Grundfos, William Demant, Rambøll, COWI and many more – are owned in this way. The model is less common outside Denmark, but some of the world’s largest and most successful companies – IKEA, Bosch, Rolex, Tata or the Swedish Wallenberg Sphere – are also foundation-owned.

Compared conventional family- or investor-owned companies, enterprise foundations are characterized by long time horizons, philanthropic goals and the absence of personal profit motives. Foundation-owned companies tend to be more stable and financially conservative. They invest more in R&D, and they treat their employees better.

Read More Here


billede af bogen "enterprise foundation law in a comparative perspective"
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Read the book written by Anne Sanders & Steen Thomsen

“Enterprise foundations are foundations which own companies. Many large companies – like Bosch, Ikea and Novo-Nordisk – are owned by enterprise foundations. This book provides an overview of enterprise foundation law in six European countries – Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy – all of which host a number of important foundation-owned companies. A chapter on the US discusses to what extent enterprise foundations are permissible in the country.”

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