Danish billionaire owns more land in Scotland than Queen Elizabeth

Critics claim Anders Holch Povlsen is trying to avoid inheritance tax

Lucie Rychla

Danish multi-billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen has recently acquired even more land in the UK to the extent that he now owns more land in Scotland than Queen Elizabeth.

According to Press & Journal, the 44-year old owner of the clothing company Bestseller has bought a total of about 200,000 acres – the equivalent of 1 percent of Scotland. He now only lags behind the Duke of Buccleuch, who has 240,000 acres in the region.

Poulson, whose fortune is estimated to be worth around 38 billion kroner, made his first large purchase in the region in 2006, when he bought a 43,000-acre estate in Glenfeshie in northwest Scotland.

READ MORE: A corner of Britain forever Danish

He now owns 11 estates, of which five are in Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands, and plans to acquire more.

The clothing magnate is one of 432 people who together own more than half of the private land in the country.

Critics speculate that Povlsen is investing in wild land to avoid inheritance tax, but his conservation company Wildland claims the Dane is genuinely interested in protecting Scotland’s wilderness.

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