Board of Directors

Hannu Ryöppönen, Member of the board

Mr Ryöppönen was, until 2009, CFO and deputy CEO in Stora Enso Oyj, FI. Before that he was CFO and executive in Royal Ahold, NL from 2003 to 2005 and served on the Board of Directors of the ICA Group, SE, including the chairmanship of the Audit Committee.  

From 1999 to 2003, Mr Ryöppönen was Finance Director of Industri Kapital Group, UK. Mr Ryöppönen served as CFO of the IKEA Group, Denmark, from 1985 to 1998, including a position as deputy CEO of IKANO Asset Management from 1998 to 1999.

From 1977 to 1985, Mr Ryöppönen held various management positions at Chemical Bank in the US and the UK, as well as for Alfa Laval in the US and Sweden.

Mr Ryöppönen is the chairman of Hakon Invest AB, the vice chairman of Rautaruukki Oyj, and a member of the boards of Neste Oil Oyj and Amer Sports Oyj, all in Finland, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Korsnäs AB, Sweden. Mr Ryöppönen is also the Chairman of the Audit Committees of Amer Sports Oyj and Rautaruukki Oyj, and a member of the Audit Committee of Neste Oil Oyj. Finally, Mr Ryöppönen is chairman of the Board of Directors of private equity funds, Altor 2003 GP Limited, Altor Fund II GP Limited and Altor III GP Limited, Jersey, Channel Islands and a member of the Board of Directors of the private equity fund Value Creation Investments Limited, Jersey, Channel Islands.

Mr Ryöppönen has a BA in Business Administration (1976) from Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki.

Mr Ryöppönen was first elected to the Board of Novo Nordisk A/S in 2009 and has most recently been re-elected in March 2012. His term as a board member expires in March 2013.

In April 2012, the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S assessed that Mr Ryöppönen is regarded as an independent board member as defined in Section 5.4.1 of the Recommendations on Corporate Governance designated by NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen (2011).

In March 2009, the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S elected Mr Ryöppönen as member of the Audit Committee and designated him as financial expert under both Danish and US law. In March 2012, the Board of Directors elected Mr Ryöppönen as chairman of the Audit Committee at Novo Nordisk A/S.

In February 2012, the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S assessed that Mr Ryöppönen is regarded as an independent Audit Committee member as defined by the US SEC and is regarded as independent under part 8 of the Danish Act on Approved Auditors and Audit firms.

In February 2012, the Board of Directors also assessed that the special competences possessed by Mr Ryöppönen that are important for the performance of his duties are his international executive background and thorough understanding of managing finance operations in global organisations, in particular in relation to accounting, financial and capital markets issues, but also his experience within private equity and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).

Mr Ryöppönen is a male Finnish national, born on 25 March 1952.