Until June 2005, Jorgen Larsen was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of London-based Universal Music International, responsible for overseeing the activities of the Universal Music Group in 77 countries outside of North America.
Larsen began his career in advertising and market research in his native Denmark. After five years as marketing manager at Procter & Gamble International in Geneva, he joined CBS Records (now Sony Music) where he spent the next 20 years of his career. During his time at CBS he was successively managing director CBS Sweden, Scandinavian area director, president CBS Germany, president CBS France and senior vice president CBS Europe, before his appointment as president of Sony Music Europe, where his responsibilities also included the company’s subsidiaries, licensees and business development in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
In 1991, Larsen became the managing partner of DSB Schallplatten Berlin, the previously state-owned East German record company, before joining Universal Music International as president in 1993. He assumed his most recent position in December 1998, as Chairman/CEO of the international division of the merged Polygram and Universal companies – by far the leading music company in the world, with 8,000 employees in 80 countries around the world. He is one of the few music industry executives who, in addition to his global responsibilities, has also been the CEO of music companies in a number of countries including Sweden, Germany and France.
Larsen has an MBA from the University of Wisconsin and a graduate degree in marketing from the Business School of Copenhagen