Louis-Hansen owns about one-fifth of Coloplast, a maker of colostomy bags. The Humlebaek, Denmark-based company has 40% of the global continence-care market and its products include catheters and anal-irrigation systems. It had revenue of 24.5 billion Danish krone ($3.6 billion) in the year to Sept. 30, 2023.
The majority of Louis-Hansen's fortune is derived from a 21.2% stake in Coloplast, a colostomy bag maker that has about 40% of the global continence market, according to its 2022 annual report. He owns shares in the Humlebaek, Denmark-based businesss directly and through Niva, Denmark-based holding company NP Louis-Hansen, according to its annual report.
Together with shares held by his sister, Benedicte, and a charitable foundation created by his late parents, the Louis-Hansen family owns about 36% of Coloplast and controls about 62% of the voting rights. The billionaire isn't assigned the shares held by his sister or the family foundation, which is obligated to act for charitable purposes.
Louis-Hansen also owns about 14% of diagnostic-equipment maker Ambu, through NP Louis-Hansen, according to Ambu's 2022 annual report.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes, market performance and charitable contributions.
Email and telephone messages sent to the family foundation requesting comment weren't returned.
Niels Peter Louis-Hansen was born in 1947, the son of a Danish nurse and an engineer who owned a plastic-packaging company. His mother, Johanne, was contacted by Elise Sorensen in 1954, a district nurse who wanted the couple to produce the world's first adhesive ostomy bag. The pair bought the rights to the invention and founded Coloplast in 1957.
Louis-Hansen joined the company as a director in 1968, two years after his father died. Coloplast expanded into urology, continence care as well as wound and skin care. The company opened its first offices in the UK in 1978, and sold shares on the Danish stock exchange in the 1980s. It acquired US urology maker Mentor for $463 million in 2006.
The billionaire's mother died in 2008. Louis-Hansen also serves as chairman of his family's foundation, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, which holds a stake in the company.