Stefan Persson

Stefan Persson, chairman and former CEO of Hennes & Mauritz, is majorly responsible for turning the Swedish fashion company into an international retail giant. Erling Persson, his father, founded the first Hennes store in Västerås in 1947. The company bought the clothing retailer Mauritz in 1965 resulting in Hennes & Mauritz which went public in 1974. However, it was Stefan Persson who after taking over the reins of the company from his father in 1982 led its exponential international growth. By the end of the last millennia, he had made H&M Europe's largest apparel retailer.

Today, H&M has become a global giant employing 76,000 people in over 2,200 stores spread across 37 countries with sales reaching in excess of $16 billion. Not quite known to flaunt his wealth and lead an extravagant lifestyle, the Swedish billionaire seems to have an affinity for property. In 2009, he purchased an entire village in Hampshire along with 2,000 acres of surrounding countryside for an estimated $40 million. He also owns an estate in Wiltshire spread over 8,500 acres worth $15million where he hosts partridge and pheasant shoots.

Persson is also one of the founders of the Mentor Foundation that fights against drug abuse among youth and has the Queen of Sweden and Queen Noor of Jordan among its trustees. As H&M chairman, Persson is known to run the company quite frugally. Only a handful of executives have mobile phone privileges and those travelling on behalf of the company do not submit expense for cab rides as well. Perhaps, the reason he has been able to transform this small Swedish company into a multibillion dollar enterprise and himself into the richest Swede by quite a margin.