Persson is the largest shareholder of Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second biggest retailer of private-label apparel. The Stockholm-based company reported revenue of 234 billion Swedish kronor ($21.5 billion) in the year to Nov. 30, 2024. The group has more than 4,000 stores and its brands include H&M as well as COS, Weekday and Monki.
The majority of Persson's fortune derives from his family's 65% stake in Hennes & Mauritz AB, held by individual members and their entities that belong to them, according to H&M's website. The billionaire is credited with the entire fortune. H&M is the world's second largest retailer of private-label apparel, according to the Fast Retailing website.
Most of his shares are held through Ramsbury Invest, a Stockholm-based family investment vehicle, and include all of H&M's Class A shares, which have 10 times the voting rights of the publicly traded Class B shares.
He also owns Ramsbury Property, which controls and manages office and commercial properties in Stockholm, Paris, London, New York and other cities. The company is valued using its reported 2023 financials, according to documents filed with Bolagsverket and the average price-to-book-value ratio of two publicly traded firms, FastPartner and Platzer Fastigheter Holding.
Persson's Ramsbury Estates has more than 19,000 acres of rural property in England, according to its website. It's valued using an implied price of 11,400 pounds per acre based on local sales in the area.
Hacan Andersson, a spokesperson for H&M, declined to comment on the net worth calculation.
Persson was born in Stockholm in 1947, the year his father, Erling, founded clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz. After graduating from Stockholm University and Lund University, Stefan joined the family business in 1976, starting as head of the company's UK operations. He became chief executive officer in 1982 and chairman in 1998, holding the latter position until May 2020.
Over the past three decades, the company has expanded across the globe, embracing the concept of selling affordable and trendy clothing, sometimes referred to as "disposable chic." Now Europe's second-largest clothing retailer, according to research group Retail-Index, H&M since 2007 has opened in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Mexico City, Melbourne and Moscow. The company has more than 4,000 stores worldwide.
The family has increased its stake in H&M to 64% as of September 2025, from 36% nine years ago. The shares are held via Ramsbury, a vehicle named after Persson’s sprawling estate, one of the largest private landholdings in southern England. Persson also owns Ramsbury Property, which has buildings on London's Oxford Street and Regent Street and on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.