Erling Persson (21 January 1917 – 28 October 2002) was the founder of H&M (Hennes & Mauritz). He got the idea following a post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

trip to the United States: he was impressed by the country's efficient, high-volume stores. He established the company in

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

, Sweden, in 1947 selling women's clothing, calling it ''Hennes,'' Swedish for "hers." In 1968, Persson acquired the premises and

inventory Inventory (British English) or stock (American English) is a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying ...

of a

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

hunting equipment store named Mauritz Widforss. In 1982, his son, Stefan Persson took over as the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, and today is the

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

. The Persson family owns about 47% of the company and has a 74% voting rights. He died in Stockholm on 28 October 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Erling 1917 births 2002 deaths Swedish businesspeople in fashion People from Borlänge Erling