Erling Persson had two children with his wife Margrit and, before his death in 2002 at the age of 85, was grandfather to five more heirs. His son Stefan Persson took over as CEO of the company he founded in 1982 and, according to Forbes, has a current net worth of $16.7 billion, making him Sweden’s richest man and in the top 100 worldwide. Stefan has three children, all of which are listed as billionaires themselves. While his youngest son and only child with current wife Carolyn Denise Persson, Tom, works in the film industry, his daughter Charlotte Soderstrom and son Karl-Johan from his first marriage to Pamela Collett are both involved in the family business. Karl-Johan took over the role of CEO from Rolf Eriksen in 2009, having graduated from the European Business School in London in 2002, and purchased an events management business. It went on to become the leading events management company in Scandinavia before he sold it in 2007, having joined H&M in an operations role in 2005. Stefan’s other child, daughter Charlotte, works in sponsorships and is married with three children of her own. The family established their not-for-profit H&M Foundation to implement transformative change in the areas of education, water, equality and environment.
