For the Saastamoinen Foundation Keynote in Business 2024, Saastamoinen Foundation and Aalto Executive Education were proud to welcome Lars Rebien Sørensen as the speaker. The subject of Sørensen’s keynote lecture was A Nordic Form of Capitalism - The Novo Nordisk Story.
The Danish Novo Nordisk is an international pharmaceutical company, a giant, whose history goes back over a hundred years. It is currently the largest company in Europe by market value. The company is not only known for its successful scientific breakthroughs but also for its distinctive foundation ownership model. As the world’s wealthiest foundation, it distributed more than one billion euro in grants in 2023 to medicine and medical research.
Sørensen is the is the Chair of the board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. He served as the CEO of Novo Nordisk from 2000 to 2016. Harvard Business Review named Sørensen the world’s top-performing CEO for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016. On September 9th 2024, Sørensen visited Finland as the guest speaker at the Saastamoinen Foundation Keynote 2024 event in Helsinki.
Below, you can watch a short video from the event with an interview with Chair of Saastamoinen Foundation Petteri Karttunen.
Guests from different walks of the business world, researches from Finland’s top universities as well as students from Aalto University filled the room to its brink as Sørensen captivated the audience with the story of Novo Nordisk’s remarkable journey. One of the highlights of the event was Sørensen’s vision of a Nordic form of capitalism, where profitability meets societal impact.
At the core of Novo Nordisk’s success is its foundation ownership, which ensures profits are reinvested into research, healthcare, and sustainable development initiatives. This structure enables a focus on long-term goals that benefit both business and society.
The keynote was followed by a discussion between Sørensen, Chair of Saastamoinen Foundation Petteri Karttunen and corporate lawyer and board professional Karri Kaitue. In the discussion, Sørensen highlighted the importance of facing modern, complex challenges with a more optimistic outlook and a balanced approach, as well as sticking to what one is good at for the most impactful change.
Watch the recording from the Saastamoinen Foundation Keynote lecture 2024 here.
Pictures:
- Lars Rebien Sørensen. Olli-Pekka Orpo, Aalto EE.
- Lars Rebien Sørensen and Chair of Saastamoinen Foundation Petteri Karttunen. Olli-Pekka Orpo, Aalto EE.