Niels Jacobsen
Major Career Roles:
- CEO of The Demant Group
- CEO of William Demant Invest A/S
- Board Member of Novo Nordisk A/S
- Chair of the LEGO Group
- Vice Chair of A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S
- Deputy Chair at About You Holding GmbH
- Chair at Ossur hf.
Other Career Highlights:
- Chair of the LEGO Group from 2008-2017
- Independent Vice Chair of A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S
- Independent Board Member of Novo Nordisk A/S
Niels Jacobsen has more than 30 years of international senior leadership experience with multi-industry knowledge in hearing care, MedTech, retail, e-commerce, and renewable energy through his experience as a Chair and CEO for Private sector companies.
Niels Jacobsen is the former CEO of The Demant Group, the Danish industrial group, where during his tenure as CEO, he listed the company on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange and developed it from a hearing aid company to a world-leading hearing healthcare and technology group. He is now CEO of William Demant Invest A/S, and Deputy Chair at ABOUT YOU, one of the fastest growing e-Commerce companies in Europe (Hamburg’s first unicorn since 2018), a fashion and technology corporation aiming to digitalise the classic shopping stroll onto the smartphone. Previously, he was Chair of the LEGO Group from 2008-2017, Deputy Chair of A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S from 2009-2018 and a board member of Novo Nordisk from 2000-2008.
The Demant Group is a Danish industrial group in the hearing healthcare field. Niels joined the hearing aid company Oticon in 1992 as Executive Vice President and was appointed President & CEO of the company in 1998 – a position he held until March 2017. Hereafter, he became CEO of William Demant Invest A/S (the parent company of The Demant Group).
In 1995, Demant A/S was listed at the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. During Niels’ tenure as CEO, the company developed from a hearing aid company to a world-leading hearing healthcare and technology group. In 1991, Oticon’s revenue was DKK 477 million and the company’s profit was DKK 9 million. In 2016, the last full year of Niels’ tenure as CEO of Demant, the company’s revenue was DKK 12 billion, the operation profit was DKK 2 billion and the company employed more than 12,000 people.
Niels has extensive international senior leadership experience from major, global companies in the global healthcare and MedTech industry, business management and board experience as well as in-depth insights into financial matters, accounting, risk management and M&A.
Niels was elected Chair of the Year 2013 by PwC Denmark and Nordic Chair of the Year 2013.
