Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen (born 29 November 1966) is a Danish businessman, the Chief Executive of Novo Nordisk since January 2017 and Chairman of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations.

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen
Born (1966-11-29) November 29, 1966 (age 57)
OccupationCEO at Novo Nordisk
EmployerNovo Nordisk (since 1994)

He was named as the Financial Times Person of the Year in December 2023.

Early life edit

Jørgensen was educated at the Cathedral School of Viborg, the Business School in Aarhus, and San Francisco State University in California, where he graduated in 1991.[1] [2]

Career edit

In 1994, Jørgensen joined the finance department of Novo Nordisk and remained there until 2001, when he was appointed as vice-president with responsibility for finance and IT in Japan and Oceania, moving with his family to Tokyo. In 2004, he returned to Denmark, and in 2013 he was appointed as Group Director for Quality. In 2014, his role was expanded to include Corporate Development.[3]

In September 2016, it was announced that Jørgensen would succeed Lars Rebien Sørensen as CEO of Novo Nordisk, after Sørensen had announced his departure at the end of the year.[3] The other candidate for the CEO post was Jacob Riis, Director for the American Market, who had been seen as heir presumptive. Early in 2017, Riis resigned, explaining that he was hugely disappointed, and took up a post as managing director of the emergency services company Falck.[4]

Jørgensen is also Chairman of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations[1] and has served as a member of several company boards of directors, including Innate Pharma in France, Harno Invest, NNIT, and NNE Pharmaplan, of which he is chairman.[3]

Honours edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c Hannah Kuchler, "FT Person of the Year: Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen of Novo Nordisk", Financial Times, 19 December 2023, accessed 6 January 2024
  2. ^ "Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, Novo Nordisk A/S: Profile and Biography", Bloomberg.com, accessed 6 January 2024
  3. ^ a b c "Midtjysk topchef i Novo Nordisk", amtsavisen.dk, 22 September 2016, accessed 6 January 2024 (in Danish)
  4. ^ "Novo crown prince resigns: I am hugely disappointed", TV 2 (Denmark), 1 March 2017, accessed 6 January 2024
  5. ^ "Ingeniører kårer for 20. gang i træk Novo Nordisk som landets mest attraktive arbejdsplads", Ingeniøren, 28 May 2020 (in Danish)
  6. ^ "Tidligere vindere af Årets Leder-prisen", Lederne.dk (in Danish)