Owner as Idea Guardian Not Operator

“Today, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen has taken on the role of owner and has entirely left the management to a professional director. This does not mean that Kjeld Kirk and the family have relinquished influence over LEGO. Although Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is no longer visible to the public, he is Jørgen Vig Knudstorp’s closest advisor and sparring partner:”

““Kjeld is the one who understands the brand better than anyone else. I have learned it through him – through many, many hours of conversations. Kjeld is the innovator who understands the product and creates the brand and the visions. He is involved in all strategic decisions, hiring top executives, management compensation systems, strategies, brand, culture, forecasts. Keep in mind that Kjeld professionalized LEGO and raised the revenue from millions to many billions. It was only when he became ill that things started to go badly. I told him that he probably should have changed the management 10 years before he handed it to me. He would have gotten much more out of it. It would still have been a difficult period to navigate through, and no one says that a new leader would have done the right thing. It may be that I, too, would have spread the LEGO brand too thin because that was what everyone said one should do back then. But it is very clear to me today that a strong brand has a clear focus,” says Jørgen Vig Knudstorp.”