The remaining 25 percent is held by the Lego Foundation, a children’s charity established by the family in 1986. Roar Rude Trangbaek, a Lego spokesman, said the Kristiansens declined to comment on their net worth calculation.
Five Legolands
Kirkbi also owns 36 percent of Poole, England-based Merlin Entertainments Group, a closely held theme park operator that manages five Legolands in four countries. The stake is valued at more than $900 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Merlin is valued using the average enterprise value-to- sales, enterprise value-to-Ebitda and price-to-earnings multiples of four publicly traded peers: Six Flags Entertainment Corp, Cedar Fair LP, Oriental Land Co. and Euro Disney SCA.
The family holding company controls Lego’s intellectual property rights. Lego Group, a subsidiary of Lego A/S, manufactures and sells the toys. In 2012, Lego Group paid 1.5 billion kroner in licensing fees and royalties, mostly to Kirkbi, according to its annual report.
Play Well
Lego was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. Its name is derived from the Danish words “leg godt,” which translates as “play well.”
In 1957, Kristiansen passed the operation to his four sons who, a year later, began selling the company’s signature studded bricks that we know today. One of the brothers -- Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen’s father, Godtfred -- consolidated control of the company in 1961 by buying out his siblings.
Kristiansen became chief executive officer in 1979, and pioneered the concept of play themes, selling Lego sets with castle and town motifs. He also struck licensing deals, including Lego’s popular Star Wars line, which was first released in 1999 with sets such as Anakin’s Podracer and X-wing Fighter.
In 2002, the company’s momentum sputtered as Lego management became distracted by diversification efforts, including theme parks and video games, according to Per Thygesen Poulsen, author of the 1993 book, “Lego: A Company and its Soul.”