The world's biggest toymaker, headquartered in Billund, Denmark. It is opening its first American factory in 2027, five years after announcing the project.
When Niels Christiansen took over as chief executive in 2017, one of his early moves was to flatten the organisation, getting rid of managers with very few direct reports, in order to speed up the toymaker's metabolism.
Lego's corporate museum in Billund contains a locked room called the Vault. Its shelves, arranged in chronological order starting in 1958, hold around 10,000 sets. The company's designers use it as a source of inspiration.
Lego makes the world's most popular toy. Its factories are highly automated: plastic-injection moulding machines handle most of the work, and humans mainly fix machines and move containers of bricks. Its Danish factory sometimes runs with the lights off. Lego operates a factory in Vietnam (44 hectares, churning out bricks for Asia) which serves as a near-copy of the plant planned for Virginia. Carsten Rasmussen, head of operations, notes that keeping production local to major markets has paid off, but smaller toymakers may struggle to replicate the model.
QOTD: "Sure, I turned down a drink once. Didn't understand the question."