New study: How power in the busi­ness com­munity has changed

Fifty years ago, almost 80% of Denmark's 100 largest companies were part of the country's central business networks. Today, that figure has more than halved.

“Economic power has become more concentrated. The power itself has not diminished, but it is now distributed among fewer hands than before,” says Majsa Stina Grosen, who explored how the Danish business elite has evolved since 1973 in her PhD thesis at CBS. 

At that time, Denmark was characterised to a much greater extent by small and medium-sized companies. If the business community wanted political influence, it therefore required coordination across many companies.

Today, the picture is very different. Novo Nordisk, Maersk, LEGO, DSV, Vestas and ISS are examples of companies that are so influential that they do not necessarily need broad coalitions to make their voices heard.

Large companies can act independently

“Our business structure has changed in ways that we do not always think about. Relative to the size of our country, Denmark has some exceptionally large companies. They no longer network with smaller companies because they simply do not need to,” says Majsa Stina Grosen.

She points to Novo Nordisk as a clear example of structural power. 

When a company of that size makes decisions about investments, jobs or redundancies, the consequences extend far beyond the company itself, and it affects employees, municipalities, tax revenues and the Danish economy.

“Novo Nordisk, for example, does not need to consult Silvan, even though both companies are among Denmark's 100 largest. They are simply in a very different negotiating position when dealing with the political system, even though they formally belong to the same business community,” says Majsa Stina Grosen.

Unique dataset maps power

Her dataset is unusual because the companies are not selected solely on the basis of turnover, as is often the case in business rankings. Instead, Majsa Stina Grosen measures company size using three parameters: number of employees, profit and equity. 

The number of employees reflects a company's structural importance. A company with many employees is important, not only to its owners but also to thousands of families, local communities and public finances. 

Profit indicates how much money a company earns and therefore also its contribution to corporate tax revenues. 

Equity makes it possible to include financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies in the analysis.

Closed system faces criticism

“This is what makes my dataset distinctive. It provides a more balanced and accurate picture of which companies matter most to the economy and therefore have easier access to politicians,” says Majsa Stina Grosen and points out that it is difficult to determine which companies have political influence and how they exercise it.

“Denmark has a reputation for being an open, equal and trust-based society, but when it comes to economic power and political influence, much of what happens remains hidden from what the public can see,” she says and adds:

“Denmark has been criticised by the EU for not being very transparent. We cannot see how much money different actors – including the business community, interest organisations and wealthy individuals – donate to political parties.” 

As part of her research, she also examined who meets with whom. If a business leader holds multiple board positions and is at the centre of the business elite's networks, they are also more likely to serve on political councils, boards and commissions. Access creates even more access. Sometimes this simply happens out of the public eye.

When the Prime Minister called a meeting

According to Majsa Stina Grosen, a recent example is the closed meeting convened by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in January 2025 after Donald Trump threatened tariffs because Denmark refused to sell Greenland.

The United States is a major export market for Denmark, meaning the threat had the potential to develop into a serious economic crisis. As a result, a number of business leaders were invited to a private meeting. However, the public was not informed about who attended. 

“It is not public knowledge who gains political access. But the very largest companies do,” says Majsa Stina Grosen.

That was also the case here. Journalists later uncovered that chief executives from Novo Nordisk, Carlsberg, Danfoss, LEGO and Ørsted were among those who attended.

Fewer owners control Danish companies

Majsa Stina Grosen's thesis also shows that ownership at the top of the Danish business community has changed. Concentrated ownership – including family ownership and foundation ownership – has become more common.

According to the researcher, this challenges Denmark's self-image.

“We tend to think of Denmark as a highly equal society.  Perhaps that is why we do not talk very much about who owns the country's largest companies,” she says.

Foundations play a central role. Denmark has an unusually high number of commercial foundations that are highly significant to the economy. They hold economic power and enjoy political privileges, including being part of the inner circle and gaining access to information. 

Majsa Stina Grosen now hopes to create a database covering companies across Denmark.