The Danish billionaire dynasty behind Lego got a bit richer last year as the toymaker dynasty boosted profits on the back of strong demand for its toys and theme parks, securing a successful power transition to its fourth-generation heirs.
Kirkbi, a trust that looks after the Kirk Kristiansen family’s 75% share of Europe’s biggest toymaker, enjoyed net income of 11.3 billion kroner ($1.62 billion) in its portfolio, a 5.9% increase from 2022 profits.
The Kirk Kristiansen family, which is comprised of the heirs to Lego founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, watched a minor succession battle play out in recent years.
Ole’s great-grandson, Thomas, took over as the Kirkbi’s “most active owner” last year, while his sister Sophie ceded nearly $1 billion worth of shares in the toymaker to her family.
The family’s 85 billion kroner ($9.7 billion) core capital investment fund, which has holdings in real estate, stocks and bonds, and venture projects linked to virtual play, had a return of 3.8 billion kroner ($435 billion) last year.
Lego bucked a 7% decline in the global toy market last year as it boosted consumer sales by 4%, notching up revenues of DKK 66 billion ($9.7 billion) for 2023 in the process.
The toymaker has been at the forefront of innovation to spearhead future growth, not least through its partnership with videogame sensation Fortnite.
Lego CEO Niels Christiansen hailed the success of that pivot, claiming 2.4 million people were playing the game concurrently following its launch in December.
The Kirk Kristiansen family will be hopeful that new growth strategies from the toymaker will reap further dividends come next year’s financial results.
Theme park operator Merlin Entertainment, which is also minority-owned by Kirkbi, announced in March that it was experimenting with surge pricing at its attractions like Legoland, the London Eye, and Madame Tussauds.
The expectation is that theme park tickets will be cheaper on a rainy Tuesday, compared with a sunny Saturday, Merlin CEO Scott O’Neil explained to the Financial Times.
The attraction operator posted £1.96 billion ($2.46 billion) in revenue last year and £136 million ($171 million) in profit before tax in 2022.
Who makes the Lego dynasty?
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the grandson of Ole, had previously served as Lego’s CEO from 1979 to 2004, when he was forced to stand down as the toymaker went through the most turbulent financial period in its history, nearing bankruptcy.
Since then, the Kirk Kristiansen family has worked on the principle that one member of the dynasty will take the role of the “most active owner” in its businesses.
Last year, 76-year-old Kjeld completed a seven-year transition that handed this power over to his son Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, 45.
Thomas would represent a board filled with fourth-generation Lego members including his sisters Sofie and Agnete Kirk Thinggaard, an Olympic dressage rider.
Thomas has a net worth of $6.17 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. Like with his sisters and father Kjeld, most of Thomas’s wealth comes from his 18.8% economic interest holding in Lego.
The three children and Kjeld have a combined net worth of nearly $25 billion.
Last November, Sofie, the great-granddaughter of Lego founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, sold $930 million worth of her shares in the toy company back to her family members so she could focus on conservation projects, Kirkbi announced last year.
Whatever the family members do with their cash, they can thank a turnaround in the power of Lego over the last two decades for maintaining their $25 billion empire.
