One year has passed since Anders Holch Povlsen lost three of his four children in the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka. Now he is facing other challenges.
One year ago today, April 21, over 250 people died in Sri Lanka as a series of explosions and suicide attacks against luxury hotels and churches took place around the country.
At one of the luxury hotels that were attacked, Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen (47) and wife Anne (40) lived with their four children.
Alfred, Agnes and Alma were among the many who lost their lives that day . They were five, twelve and fifteen years old when they passed away.
Since the tragedy, much has happened to the Holch-Povlsen family.
After the terror attack, the Danish couple and their ten-year-old daughter, Astrid, were left in mourning. Burying a child is basically every parent’s worst nightmare, and for Holch Povlsen this nightmare was repeated three times.
In March of this year, on the other hand, the family was able to share a much nicer news that they had become parents again. Although their three children will never return, the family is now extended by two .
– The family is indescribably pleased to welcome the two little miracles. Both to get to know them and to become life-long and a joyful part of the family, the family’s private secretary, Kristine Mønster, told BT newspaper in March.
The twins, two little girls, came into the world on March 11, after what was described as a nice pregnancy and a birth without any complications.
Serious criticism
But despite 2020 having a good start for Holch Povlsen, some challenges have also emerged for the Danish clothing billionaire. Like many others, his company also suffers from the corona crisis.It is failing sales that cause the Bestseller owner to layoff employees. This particularly affects employees in the offices in Denmark. In addition, there will also be layoffs internationally.
As a 28-year-old, Holch Povlsen took over 80 percent of the parents Truls and Merete Povlsen’s life work, Bestseller.
He has since taken over the Danish and European part of the clothing empire, with great success. Bestsellers are behind several well-established brands, including Jack & Jones, Vero Moda and Only, who are now struggling due to COVID-19.
“In just a few weeks we have gone from the prospect of the strongest financial year ever to ending up in a deep crisis,” said CEO and owner Povlsen in the press release, according to Danish TV 2 .
Danske Ekstra Bladet followed up with criticism of the rich corporate owner.
-It can be special circumstances, but it is important that companies not only dismiss employees and create unnecessarily many unemployed people, Peter Skaarup, group leader in the Danish People’s Party, told Ekstra Bladet, describing it as “annoying” that they lay off 750 employees .
From his own pocket
While the owner himself remained relatively silent, many thought he should pop in from his own pocket to secure the business. He did afterwards.
Against the Danish newspaper Berlingske, Holch Povlsen said earlier this month that he had taken his own fortune with the goal of saving the family business he has had for 19 years.
“I have provided everything I have, also I have asked some banks if they can help us for a period. They would like to. It’s not something we have a habit of doing, but this is an unusual situation”, the 46-year-old tells the newspaper, according to Finans.dk .
Anders Holch Povlsen has said that in the first place they now have enough capital to keep the company up through the summer.
Economic fall
There is no doubt that the corona crisis has affected Holch Povlsen financially. Just a few weeks ago, he was number 392 on Bloomberg’s list of the world’s 500 richest, and now his name is down to 450th place.
Just two weeks ago, he had an estimated wealth of 35 billion Danish kroner, while he now has about 27.4 billion Danish kroner. There is no doubt that he is still rich, but it is still a sharp fall.
The reason for this is, among other things, a massive price drop at the online stores Asos and Zalando, according to Danish BT .
