Karl-Johan Persson

Karl-Johan Erling Göran Persson (born 25 March 1975) is a Swedish billionaire businessman. He is chairman of the fashion company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), and was its CEO from 2009 to 2020. H&M was founded by his grandfather Erling Persson. As of December 2023, according to Forbes, his estimated net worth is US$1.9 billion.

Early life Persson attended the European Business School in London from 1996, majoring in Business and Economics. He graduated in 2002. The business was successfully sold in 2007 to MCI. In 2005, he joined H&M in an operational role, working his way up to head of expansion and head of business development in 2007, before being appointed CEO in 2009 to succeed Rolf Eriksen.

He invests in start-ups through the companies Philian AB and 41an Invest AB.

Personal life He is married to Leonie Gillberg, they have three children, and live in Stockholm, Sweden.