Arnold Peter Møller

Arnold Peter Møller (October 2, 1876 Dragør - June 12, 1965) was a Danish shipping magnate, businessman and founder of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group. A. P. Møller was the son of captain Peter Mærsk Møller and Anna Møller. His mother came from a well known shipping dynasty in Dragør and his maternal grandfather Hans Jeppesen Davidsen was known as "the king of Dragør".The Møller family moved to Svendborg on Funen after having lost a power struggle against Anna's sisters and their husbands.

In 1904 A. P. Møller and his father founded "Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg" (Steamship Company Svendborg) to take advantage of business opportunities created by the introduction of steam ships. A. P. Møller went on to found "Dampskibsselskabet af 1912" (Steamship Company of 1912) to be free to operate his business as he chose. The First World War was a very lucrative period for the shipping business and A. P. Møller managed to take full advantage of the opportunities. After the war his company was the fourth biggest shipping company in Denmark. The company grew steadily in the interwar years and was the biggest in Denmark at the outbreak of the Second World War. During the German occupation of Denmark of 1940-45, A. P. Møller's son Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller ran a substantial part of the company from the USA. But the family lost a great deal of money because the US government would not pay full compensation for the use of their ships during the war.

A. P. Møller was also involved in business ventures outside the shipping industry. He secured a contract on drilling oil in the Danish part of the North Sea. Together with merchant Hermann Sallingand, Møller founded the retail chain Dansk Supermarked. This chain is now the biggest retail company in Denmark.

A. P. Møller married American Chastine Mc-Kinney, with whom he had two sons, Arnold and Hans, and two daughters, Jane and Sally. On his death in 1965, his son Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller succeeded him as chairman and CEO of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.

Current company status

Today the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group is the largest Danish company. Headquarted in Copenhagen, Denmark, it is a worldwide organisation, with more than 110,000 employees and offices in over 125 countries. In addition to owning one of the world’s largest shipping companies, the company is also involved in a wide range of activities within the energy, shipbuilding, retail and manufacturing industries.