Pia Marsh
June 1st, 2015

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If you want to change the course of Denmark, it is better to pursue a career in business or trade unions, rather than chasing ministerial posts at Christiansborg.

A new study by DR Nyheder reveals a list of the 15 most influential Danes, among which several trade union bosses and chief executives are represented, whilst the prime minister and the rest of Denmark’s leading politicians are completely absent.

Here is the list of the 15 most influential Danes:

– Claus Jensen, trade union leader, Dansk Metal
– Lars Nørby Johansen, chairman and former CEO, Falck
– Bente Sorgenfrey, trade union leader, FTF
– Karsten Dydvad, CEO, Dansk Industri
– Jørgen Mads Clausen, owner, Danfoss
– Peter Schütze, chairman of DSB, previously CEO of Nordea
– Kim Simonsen, trade union leader, HK
– Harald Børsting , trade union leader, LO
– Niels Bjørn Christiansen, CEO, Danfoss
– Helle Lizette Risgaard, trade union representative, LO
– Tina Susanne Miksch Roed, CEO, Dansk Industri
– Birgit Aagaard- Svendsen, CFO, J Lauritzen
– Ralf Hemmingsen, rector, University of Copenhagen
– Nils S Andersen, CEO, AP Moller-Maersk
– Michael Christiansen, chairman, DR / Royal Theatre / Aarhus University

“The list represents those who dominate our society, or those who are almost always taken into account when there are policy decisions to be made. That’s why we call them the Danish power elite,” leading Danish researcher Christoph Houmann Ellersgaard told DR.

Man on top
The man at the top of the list is Claus Jensen, the chairman of the country’s fifth largest LO federation, Dansk Metal. According to the results, he is considered the most well-connected businessman in Denmark, and Jensen asserts that he is not surprised by these findings.

“Dansk Metal has always sought influence and tried to influence wherever we can. I have inherited this influence from my predecessors, so it is not something that has just occurred over night,” Jensen told DR.