Helena Saxon’s more than 30-year career combines both highly effective operational leadership, as well as a track record of successful capital stewardship and value creation. Helena was Group Chief Financial Officer of Investor AB, a Nasdaq Stockholm-listed investment company, from 2015 to 2024 and, prior to that, an Investment Manager. Helena is also a non-Executive Director of H&M and Novo Nordisk. 

Cristina Stenbeck, Chairman of the Kinnevik Board, commented: “The Board is delighted that Helena Saxon will be our new CEO from August. I have followed Helena’s career over many years. Of particular importance for this role are her experience of thinking and acting like an active and accountable owner, the expertise she gained at a publicly listed investment firm with a diversified portfolio, her financial discipline in addressing both opportunities and challenges, and her clear communication style. We have spent enough time together to be assured that we share a vision of what can be achieved at Kinnevik, both organically and with the financial flexibility provided by a strong balance sheet, in order to pivot the portfolio, improve performance, and deliver compounding returns in the future.”

“The Board has a clear agenda to ensure that Kinnevik has a more concentrated, more European, and later stage portfolio of investments. We have already set out that we will be highly disciplined in making any follow-on investments into our existing portfolio. We are conserving cash, which will be supplemented over time by returns from the existing portfolio. We will continue to work with our portfolio to maximise each company’s opportunities and outcomes, and we will use our cash to invest primarily in profitably growing and cash generative enterprises, where growth capital is scarce and we can build successful, sustainable and generational businesses.” 

Helena Saxon commented: “I am excited and honored to be joining Kinnevik, an iconic Swedish investment company that I have followed throughout my career and in which I am a shareholder. The Board and I are aligned on the strategy and I am particularly motivated to be joining as CEO at a time when the main owner, the Board and the management team have a shared commitment to refocus the company. This will be accomplished by driving performance in the existing portfolio, as well as investing and allocating capital to improve financial flexibility and create long-term value. We have much to do, and I look forward to getting to work with the team in August.”

Cristina Stenbeck concluded: “On behalf of the Board, I would again like to thank our fellow Board member Rubin Ritter for the positive change he is continuing to implement during his time as interim CEO. The steps he is taking are driving progress towards our objective of enhancing performance by resetting priorities, ensuring a sense of urgency, improving communication and reviewing the portfolio.”